


Remember When

by hbomba, lonejaguar



Series: From Hel With Love [4]
Category: Lost Girl
Genre: Alternate Canon, Alternate Reality, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-09
Updated: 2014-07-14
Packaged: 2018-02-08 03:13:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 23,906
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1924587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hbomba/pseuds/hbomba, https://archiveofourown.org/users/lonejaguar/pseuds/lonejaguar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Life is turned on its head just as it is getting back to normal for Bo, Lauren and Kenzi. Lauren finds herself the unlikely hero as Trick’s plans backfire and it is him that threatens the Fae.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Fourth in a series including: To The Bottom, Little Talks & Thicker Than Blood. Post S4 AU.

__

If in the twilight of memory we should meet once more, we shall speak again together and you shall sing to me a deeper song. --Khalil Gibran  
__

Memory is more indelible than ink. --Anita Loos  
____

Kenzi ran her hand over the plaster. She looked at Bo. “Holy shit! We have walls!” 

The construction crew had finally finished earlier that afternoon. Lauren, having sent Bo and Kenzi away during the final stages was happily showing the new and improved clubhouse off. A kitschy chandelier hung over the existing table, new appliances sparkled in the kitchen, the walls were faux finished to carry over its old charm. The floors were now covered in laminate, their dark wood giving the clubhouse a classic look. Upstairs, the old vending refrigerator found a new home in Bo’s room, stocked with every manner of drink and smoothie for which Lauren was entirely too proud of herself. The windows had been gutted. Gone were the drafty, boarded up panes and new weather-stripping and efficient windows were installed. To ensure privacy, Lauren made sure to get coverings to match the bohemian décor. 

That night they dined on take out and toasted the fact that they hadn’t had an intruder in three whole days. Life, as they knew it, was beginning to settle down. They were five shots in, toasting the recent developments.

“Here’s to Bo, for simultaneously getting Trick’s goat and destroying Lauren’s life work,” Kenzi lifted the shot into the air. Lauren and Bo clinked glasses with her and threw back the shots.

Bo smiled. “All in a days work.” 

Lauren was practically glowing. This was all her doing and she selfishly absorbed every happiness it brought Kenzi and Bo. “Unfortunately, there wasn’t enough money to soundproof Bo’s bedroom, Kenz.”

“That’s okay,” she waved a hand. “I’d probably miss the girlie shows. I mean, not like that, it’s just it’s a good way to keep track of you.” She closed her eyes. “And not like that, either.”

Bo laughed and poured another round. She held the shot glass up to the light, peering through the amber liquid. “To…” Bo looked at Lauren, who was beginning to fade. She never could keep up with Bo and Kenzi when it came to drinking. “Lauren.” Lauren’s head snapped to attention and she cocked her head at Bo. “For making our lives better.”

Kenzi stuck a finger down her throat for effect. “I lurve me some Lauren, but that was the sappiest toast I have ever heard.”

“Love you too, Kenz,” Lauren grinned lopsidedly, leaning heavily on her elbow, she propped herself up. She poked at a plate of half-eaten lo mein as Kenzi poured another round.

“To the Doc. Healer extraordinaire, girlfriend to the baddest Succubus around and decorator a-go-go.” Tossing their heads back, they took the next shot. “And that’s how you do it,” Kenzi said, dipping an egg roll into its sugary sauce. “Speaking of which, Doc, you don’t look so good.”

Lauren smiled, waving a hand in front of her face. “You always could drink me under the table, Kenz.”

“C’mon,” Bo helped her off her stool. “Let’s get you to bed.” 

“It’s early,” Lauren protested.

“I’ll keep you company,” Bo said smoothly, taking Lauren‘s hand and guiding her up the stairs.

“Oh, okay,” Kenzi called. “I’ll just be down here drinking by myself.”

“Save me some.” Bo whispered behind Lauren’s back.  
__

An hour later Bo skipped down the stairs and rejoined Kenzi in front of the television. She kicked her feet onto the coffee table and sat back with a self-satisfied sigh.

“You two have a good thing going, you know that?” Kenzi was to the sloppy soothsaying stage of her inebriation.

“Yeah,” Bo nodded. After everything, she was worth it. 

“Don’t muff it up, Succubus,” she warned.

Bo saluted her. “Yes, ma’am.”

“I’m serious.”

“Believe me, Kenz, I just wanna make her happy.”

“Oh, gack.”

“Good to know where you’re at, though.”

Kenzi filled Bo’s shot glass. “To the doctor and the succubus,“ Kenzi said. Forgoing her glass, she lifted the bottle of whiskey to her lips, pouring it back. Shaking her head, she hissed as she swallowed the liquid fire. “I’m gonna feel that one in the morning.”   
____

As night faded into day again, Bo and Kenzi found their way to bed. At noon hour, Bo woke with a start. Her hand outstretched, she smoothed it across the sheet beside her: empty. Bo sat up, breathless. As a succubus, Bo was used to waking up alone, but today she was distinctly aware of something missing and she felt it to her very core. 

“Kenzi,” she whispered, throwing back the covers and sliding into a kimono. 

Bo climbed the stairs to Kenzi’s room and when she arrived at the top step she found her friend looking as confused as Bo felt. Kenzi put her hands up. “Dude, what did we drink last night?”

“Everything, if the mess downstairs is any indication.” Bo sat at the foot of Kenzi’s bed.

“Hey, do you feel--”

“Weird?” She finished the sentence. “Yeah,” Bo sighed and Kenzi stood abruptly. “Where are you going?”

“Unlike you, Succubus, I did not get my monster hangover bang hilled out of me last night and I won’t be able to face mine without coffee.” She descended the stairs to the main floor.

Kenzi was right. But where had Bo’s lover gone? Bo padded after Kenzi. “Who was I with last night?”

“I don’t know, tall, blonde, the usual?” Kenzi said, filling the coffee pot with water. 

“Why can’t I remember?” Bo drummed her fingers against the counter as Kenzi camped in front of the percolating machine.

“Bump your noggin on the headboard a few too many times last night, did ya?”

“Ha ha,” Bo said sarcastically.

Kenzi pulled the pot from the dripping coffee maker and replaced it with her cup. “Just pointing out the most plausible explanation, Succybaby.”

“And what’s your excuse?” Bo challenged, elbowing Kenzi in the side.

“Isn’t it obvious? I drank myself unconscious.” Kenzi sprinkled non-dairy creamer into her mug and then dosed it with sugar for good measure. She held the mug with two hands and closed her eyes as she sipped oblivion.

“Something’s not right.” Bo tapped a finger on the side of the mug Kenzi passed to her. “And I’m gonna find out what it is.”  
__

As near as she could figure, she became fully aware as she walked through town. It was the weekend and there wasn’t much open yet. She wandered aimlessly, not knowing what she was looking for or where she was going, she only knew that when she saw the sign to the Dal Riata illuminated in its window, she felt compelled to enter.

The bell dinged as she went into the empty pub. A small man stood behind the bar. “I think you’re in the wrong place,” Trick said callously.

“If this is how you treat potential customers, it’s no wonder it’s empty in here.”

“I’m sorry, you’re right. Please, have a seat. What can I get for you?”

“A pint would be great,” she said. “I was wondering if you could help me--I’m looking for work.”

“What’s your background?” Trick asked as he pulled a perfect pint and set it in front of her.

“I’m not sure that‘s important.” She sipped the ale and considered her failing memory. 

“Well, I’m looking for someone who can polish glasses, do some dishes and wait tables if you‘re interested.

“That sounds perfect,” she said. “Do you take boarders?”

“Life changes abound for you,” Trick said with a knowing smile. 

“Yeah,” she smiled. “Life can be pretty unpredictable.”

“I just so happen to have a room to let. It’s yours if you want it. I suppose I should introduce myself.” He extended a hand. “Trick,” he said.

“Lauren,” she said, reaching out a hand to shake his.  
__

The bell chimed as Bo opened the door to the Dal and her first introduction to the new help was the sweet curve of her hips and ass as she leaned over the tables to wash them with a damp rag. Bo hopped down the few steps and sidled up to the nameless blonde.

“Hi, I’m Bo.” She smiled less than innocently. “I’m Trick’s granddaughter.”

“Oh,” she straightened. “I’m new, I mean…“ She smiled and rolled her eyes. “I’m Lauren. Nice to meet you.”

Bo leaned on a table pseudo casually. “What brings you to our little corner of the world?”

“I got lost and I’ve yet to be found,” Lauren said with mirth in her voice.

“I’ve been there,” Bo nodded.

“Bo…” Trick’s voice boomed dramatically in the quiet of the Dal. “Let her be.”

Lauren shook her head. “No, it’s okay. I’m fine.”

Bo sighed and pushed off from the table, trailing a finger along Lauren’s jaw as she walked past. “Nice meeting you, Lauren.” Bo’s confident stride carried her away from Lauren to the end of the bar where Trick polished glasses. “Never thought my own grandfather would succublock me,” she whispered. Trick poured Bo a whiskey and she looked around. “Wow, it feels like I haven’t been here in months,” Bo said, genuinely confused. “And judging from the new help you hired, I’ve been gone entirely too long.”

“I mean it, Bo. Leave her be.”

“And what if I don’t? Are you going to disown me?” Bo smirked.

“No, but I may have to fire her if you continue to distract her from her duties.”

“Anyone ever tell you that you’re a real killjoy?”

“Just you,” he said seriously.

“And?” Bo pressed.

“You may have a point but this is my business, Bo. You can’t come in here and feast on every pretty girl I hire.”

“Why not?”

“Because it’s bad form. Find your own feeds and leave the help alone.”

Bo swirled the ice in her tumbler before taking a hefty sip. “Alright, alright. Point taken.”

“Good. Now what can I do for you?”

“Kenzi and I had a weird night. I’m just trying to figure out what happened.”

“Weird, how?” Trick asked.

“Ever wake up with the feeling that you’ve forgotten more than you knew to begin with?

Trick’s eyes grew shifty as he considered her dilemma, catching Bo’s eyes wandering to Lauren once again. “Did you by chance drink absinthe?”

“It’s possible. We drank everything last night.”

“That could explain the dream-like state you find yourself in.”

Bo sighed watching Lauren work at righting all the chairs. “You’re sure you won’t change your mind? Because pardon my French, but she‘s right up my alley.”

Trick smirked.  
__


	2. Chapter 2

If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other. --Mother Teresa  
__

It was true, Trick was at the center of their memory loss. After Bo had so defiantly refused to cooperate with turning over Lauren’s Fae research, Trick found himself at his wit’s end. He had tried to convince everyone in his inner sanctum to help him stop the madness. Bo had flat out walked away from Trick, choosing Lauren over him and Lauren--who he deduced had planned this whole thing all along--needed to be stopped before there were dire consequences for all Fae. When Bo had presented the research shortly before destroying it in front of him, Trick knew he had no other option.

In the dead of night, he pulled out the book he swore he was done with after Rainer and wrote in his blood once more. He wrote Lauren out of Fae history, allowing her to keep her human life without fear that she’d continue the research that could signal the Fae extinction. But Trick was quickly learning there were forces beyond his control at work between Bo and Lauren. In all his years, he had never seen such an attraction that couldn’t be denied even after he had stripped their memories of one another.

He watched as Bo, feet kicked up in a neighboring chair, ordered drink after drink just to keep Lauren coming back. Each time they’d share a smile and soon the hunger in the drunken succubus’ gaze was enough to peel paint from the walls. As if on cue, Kenzi pushed into the Dal and wandered towards Bo.

“So much for ‘I’m just going to go to talk to Trick.’ Four hours later, you’re half in the bag and from the looks of it, already have designs on the help.”

“Did Trick call you?”

“That’s not important.” Bo raised her arm to flag down Lauren again. Kenzi’s eyes followed the path of Bo’s. “Now I see what’s captured your attention. Another leggy blonde? Man, you are so predictable!”

When Lauren waded through the tables to Bo’s side once again, she smiled cordially as Bo introduced Kenzi before ordering another round of drinks. Bo leaned out of her chair as she watched Lauren return to the bar to fetch their drinks.

“Jesus, Bo-Bo, she’s really got your number.”

Bo took a swig of her waning drink and dropped the empty tumbler onto the tabletop. “Isn’t it fantastic?”

Trick had called Kenzi in the hopes that she could distract her granddaughter from the path she seemed bound and determined to tread. And now that the Dal was packed, he was far too busy to keep track of Bo and her libido of doom. He had yet to have the Fae talk with Lauren and right now she was swimming in a sea of predators and she didn’t even know it. He owed her a heads up at the very least.  
____

“Alright,” Kenzi said, sliding onto a bar stool in front of Lauren. “Trick asked me to have the birds and the bees talk with you.”

Lauren chuckled, passing a couple of drinks down the bar. “I assure you, that’s entirely unnecessary.”

“You’re being courted by a sex demon, trust me, you need this information.”

“Wait, what?”

Kenzi smiled. “What I’m about to tell you is going to blow your doors right off their hinges.” Lauren spun her pint glasses around and around on its coaster, waiting for the punch line. “Now, you and I are human but we are surrounded by many who are not.”

“You’re not making any sense, Kenzi.”

“What would you say if I told you that we, as humans, are like walking doggy bags for a super human race called the Fae? 

“I’d say you’ve seen one too many science fiction movies.”

“You’re not far off,” Kenzi said. “There is the occasional werewolf and vampire.” She held up her hand and whispered behind it, “But they don’t sparkle.” She smiled. “Now, Bo is special.”

“Bo’s a werewolf?”

She laughed. “Not even close. Bo’s a succubus.” Kenzi watched as Lauren tried to work it out.

“She’s the sex demon?”

“I know I’ve been known to complain about my flagging sex life, but Bo actually needs sex to live. She feeds on sexual energy and since you‘ve been making a lot of that with Bo, we thought you should know what you‘re getting into.”

“So this is an intervention.”

“Uh huh, but I promise, Bo may sound scary on paper, but she’s a big softie. She does hunt and feed like other Fae, she just has scruples about it.”

“That’s a relief. By hunting, do you mean killing?”

“Sometimes. But she saves that for the real assholes. Like the one she saved me from.“

“She saved you?”

She could hear the chorus of ‘aww’s’ sounding in Lauren’s head even before Kenzi could explain. “That and I hear her moves are approaching circus quality in the sack. Minus the dancing bears, of course.”

“Now, come on, Kenz, the dancing bears are the best part.” Bo appeared behind Kenzi and dropped into the chair between them.

“Kenzi tells me that you’re a succubus.” Lauren tried to make small talk but only succeeded in tempting Bo further.

“Well, you’re still here, that’s a good sign.” Bo smiled.

“So what can a succubus do?” She asked flirtatiously. 

“Let me show you.”

Lauren sighed at the warmth from Bo’s touch. Another jolt ran through her body, an image of her in a bathroom stall, Bo’s hand down her jeans, pressing her against the back of the door imprinted itself on her brain. She felt lightheaded when Bo pulled her hand away.

“Whoa,” she breathed, inciting a chuckle from Bo.

“Wait till you see what else I can do…” Bo winked.

“Hey! Okay! Easy, Succubus,” Kenzi exclaimed. 

He watched Bo’s eyes twinkle as she spoke to Lauren. Kenzi rested her chin in the palm of her hand as she scrutinized the spectacle unfolding in front of her. Trick looked away to serve a patron standing at the bar and when he looked back Bo’s table was empty. 

Kenzi rushed toward him. “Alert status red, alert status red!” 

“Where’d they go?” Trick asked, concerned.

She pointed with both hands. “Barrel room.”  
__

Inside the barrel room, Bo was making short work of Lauren’s clothing, casting her top onto one of the many barrels that gave the room its name. Lauren untied her apron and dropped it on the floor. As Bo lifted her chin to kiss her a shiver ran through their bodies. And when she pressed her lips to Lauren’s, a jolt of electricity made her hair stand on end. Undeterred, closing her eyes, Bo kissed her deeply. She couldn’t explain it but Lauren felt familiar, homey. And each time they kissed, she relived all of the other times they had kissed before. Except neither had any recollection of ever having kissed before that moment in the barrel room and it made for some awkward and confusing conversation when Trick barged in the door.

“Ysabeau!” Trick scolded. Lauren gathered her clothing hurriedly and turned her back to redress. When she turned again, Trick’s eyes sent her back to the bar with a silent nod. “I asked you not to do that.”

“Do what? She’s fine, you saw for yourself.”

“You know what I mean.”

“I like her, Trick, is that so bad?”

“Don’t get too attached to her, I don’t think she’ll be staying long.”  
__

Trick looked up from the newspaper he was feigning to read from across the room. The bell he had put on the front door in a fit of paranoia, chimed again. A red-faced stranger coughed into his hand as he approached. Trick didn’t recognize him and he wore a raincoat when the sun was shining outside. He stumbled, walking toward the bar, holding his side as he loped along. 

Trick put on his best false smile. “Welcome, friend. From where do you hail?”

“Hungary,” he said with a thick accent. “I’ve come here for a fresh start. Do you have a doctor I could see?”

Trick paused. “I’m sorry but we’re between doctors.”

The man sniffled as he signed the Fae ledger. “In that case, I’d like to order a pint of your finest ale.”  
__

The din of the Dal was overwhelming now. Trick hadn’t seen this many paying customers in months. He stood, poised behind the bar, accepting orders from Lauren and the rowdy mob alike. Just then, the front door blew open and the wolf and Valkyrie entered the fray. Dyson was bloodied, looking as if he took more shots than he gave in his last fight. Tamsin, however, was immaculate, the only clue about their encounter was the strand of blonde hair that had come free from her hair tie.

“Trick!” Dyson greeted his old friend with a toothy grin.

Before Tamsin could say hello, two pints appeared in front of them. She surveyed the room, noticing Bo with her latest blonde conquest and Kenzi who looked positively bored by Bo’s moves. She smiled and shook her head as Bo whispered something into the blonde waitress’s ear. 

“Hard to find good help,” Tamsin said watching Lauren flirt with Bo.

“I suppose it is,” Trick said dropping a bowl of pretzels in front of Dyson who eyed the new blonde suspiciously.

“Where’d you find this one?” He asked.

“She found me,” Trick started. “And then Bo found her.”

Dyson chuckled, his white teeth flashing again. “That sounds about right.”

“What’s her story?” Tamsin asked.

“She’s running from something, I’d bet my bar on it,” he said.

“In that case,” Tamsin lifted her pint from the bar and turned toward Bo, the waitress, and poor, long-suffering Kenzi. Pushing and elbowing her way to their table, she pulled out a chair for herself. “Hello, ladies.” Bo and Lauren disengaged eye contact long enough to greet Tamsin. “How’s it going, short stack?” Tamsin and Kenzi exchanged a knowing glance. One that said, ‘Bo’s at it again’ and yet all they could do was watch her moves unfold.

Kenzi yawned. “I’ve been on succubus duty all day. They’re starting to wear me down.”

“All part of my plan,” Bo smiled and elbowed Kenzi in the side. “Look alive,” she teased as Kenzi rolled her eyes.

Tamsin held out a hand to Lauren. “I’m Tamsin.”

“Lauren,” she shook her hand.

“So Lauren,” Tamsin started. “What’s your story?” She asked.

“I’m a long way from home.”

“Welcome to Oz,” Tamsin smiled sardonically.  
__

Dyson watched the women from across the room, at the bar with Trick. Relationships past and future colliding over an uneven pub table stained with beer rings and littered with peanuts. Bo smiled like the cat that caught the canary, the canary in this case was yet another in a long line of blondes. Kenzi, Trick had told him, had been babysitting them all day and it showed. She looked worn out. Dyson knew how determined Bo could be and from where he stood, Bo had her A-game working for her. Her eyes sparkled as did her smile and the way she juggled the blonde’s hand between her own made her eyes sparkle, too.

As much as he wished he could say she used to look at him like that, he couldn’t claim that. Bo never looked at Dyson the way she was looking at that human right now. Bo touched her hip delicately, making another connection with her before being sidetracked by Kenzi.

“What do you know about the human?” Dyson said gruffly. 

“She’s nice enough,” Trick said. “Not much of a waitress, I’m afraid.”

Dyson surveyed a number of disgruntled faces with empty glasses surrounding Bo, who continued to monopolize the blonde’s time. Kenzi had her head down on the table, the drink or the drama having caused her to give up and Tamsin looked over her shoulder at Dyson, beckoning him with a pained expression. It was time to meet the new girl.

He stood, lifting his beer from the bar and walking towards his ex, her friend, a blonde and his current. This was the stuff nightmares were made of.

“Dyson,” Tamsin said in a sing-song voice. 

Kenzi lifted her head. “Hey, D-man.”

“Hey,” Dyson squeezed Tamsin’s shoulder. He took a sip of his beer. His bottom lip combed over his top, taking the foam with it. “Aren’t you going to introduce us?”

Bo did her best not to look annoyed as she always did when Dyson came poking around her conquests. “Dyson, Lauren. Lauren, Dyson.” Lauren extended a hand but Dyson just looked at her. “Don’t mind him, he’s got a human-sized chip on his shoulder,” she said turning the blonde’s attention back to herself.

“Well, isn’t this cozy?” Kenzi propped herself up with her palm on her forehead and looked from Dyson and Tamsin to Lauren and Bo and back again. “Not.”

There was a strange feeling he got from this woman, like he knew her from somewhere. Like she had wronged him somehow. But at the same time, he sensed intelligence, control, and loyalty. She didn’t feel like a threat, but she had to be hiding something. Dyson inhaled deeply, catching her scent, trying to gauge her intent. Lauren glanced at him until Bo touched her arm. She was hard to read and that frustrated him.

“So Lauren,” Dyson started. “What brings you here?”

The smile faded from Lauren’s face. She swallowed and looked around the table, each set of eyes on her. “I… don’t know why that’s important.”

Dyson smiled, sensing the apprehension. “Ah well. Just trying to be friendly.” He took another drink.

“I don‘t know, Dyson.” Lauren looked over to Bo, who’s hand draped over her wrist. “I don’t think there’s anything wrong with a little mystery.”

Tamsin rolled her eyes and drained her glass. “I’m going for another, anyone?” She didn’t bother waiting for the answer before she turned and left.

Dyson smiled. “Suit yourself,” he said. “I have other means.”

Lauren blinked at him and Bo threw a few peanuts in his direction. “Dyson, lay off. Seriously.”

He held up his hands in surrender and turned toward the bar, blending quickly into the crowd. 

Lauren sighed and got to her feet, tucking a white rag in her apron string. “I should get back to work,” she said with a tight smile before walking away.

“Wow.” Kenzi broke a few peanuts open across the table. “Way to clear the room, Bo-Bo.”

__

Later, when the Dal had cleared out substantially, Bo included, Lauren found herself at a table in the corner weighing the evening’s events as she flipped through yet another book as she was wont to do at every break she was given. And she’d been reading about the Fae since Trick had let her in his private library. Predictably, she had read the chapter on succubae a number of times already. The floorboards creaked beside her and Lauren’s eyes traveled the length of immaculately pedicured feet, silky smooth waxed legs and a dress so tight it left little to the imagination. When Lauren’s eyes were through roaming, she met the stranger’s eyes with her own and smiled.

“Darling, we simply must talk about your ensemble.” The last word was said with a French accent for effect.

Lauren set the book aside and looked down at her shirt. “I’m sorry?”

“And you should be!”

“Is this some kind of joke? Are you a fashion Fae? Did Kenzi put you up to this?” Evony threw her head back and laughed at her delicious innocence. “You are Fae, aren’t you?”

“Well, I’m certainly not human, honey. What’s your name?” Evony asked.

“Lauren. What’s yours?”

“My dear, I am the leader of the Dark, the Morrigan. And I would like to offer you a job.”

“I already have a job.”

“Sweetie, you simply cannot waste your talents in a bar. Aren’t you a doctor?”

Lauren frowned. “Who told you that?”

Evony shrugged. “People talk and Fae gossip spreads like wildfire. Speaking of which, I heard about your little tete-a-tete with Bo in the barrel room. She‘s fun, isn‘t she?” Evony played with a blonde ringlet.

“You know Bo?”

“Honey, she’s practically a Fae celebrity. Of course, we’re friends, though she may deny it we are quite friendly.”

“Oh…” Lauren felt the disappointment churn inside of her. Of all the familiar feelings Lauren had experienced with Bo, this feeling of jealousy and incompleteness was overwhelming. 

“You didn’t think she saved herself for you, did you?” 

“No,” she shook her head. “Of course not.”

Evony lifted Lauren‘s chin with a perfectly manicured hand. “Then why so glum, kiddo?”

Lauren shook her head. “It’s nothing.”

“Aw, you like her. Isn’t that sweet?” Evony sighed. “Don’t get lost in her blue eyes.” 

“Bo has brown eyes.“

The confusion on Lauren’s face made Evony laugh again. She pinched Lauren’s cheek. “You’ll see.”  
__

Lauren sat on her bunk, back against the wall, reading. Trick had so many books that it was like she was living in an ancient library. She had been practicing her Latin before she began to read a centuries old volume about the Fae when a knock at her door sounded.

She stood, taking the few steps to the door before unlatching it. The door swung open to reveal Bo standing boldly in front of her.

“Can I come in?”

Lauren swallowed. “Of course, of course. Don’t be silly.” She stepped backward into her room as Bo advanced on her. Just when Lauren thought Bo would cross that last bit of distance between them, she planted her feet and smiled. 

“I just wanted to apologize for my behavior earlier. You seem nice.” Bo smiled and Lauren shook her head but her words were squelched. “Maybe I’ll see you around.”

Before Bo could turn, Lauren had stumbled forward and pulled her into a kiss. It was as it had been before. Intensely foreign and familiar at the same time. Lauren tore herself away, chest heaving. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but sometimes when we kiss I get nauseous.”

Bo lifted her eyebrows. “Now, how could I possibly take that the wrong way?”

“I just mean, that it’s so intense. I feel it in my bones…” Lauren searched Bo’s face with confused wonder. “You know?”

The best confirmation Bo could offer was a crushing kiss, the strength of which forced Lauren to take a step back. Bo held her face in her hands, her hips leading Lauren back another step. Then another. And then a fourth before Lauren hit the wall, grunting into their kiss. The sensation was unreal. Bo’s hands traveled her body, lighting it on fire as they went, until they came to rest flat against the wall on either side of Lauren’s head. She was paralyzed. Not only from the incredible kiss they had just shared, but from the warm press of Bo’s body, holding her firmly against the wall.

Bo kissed her again but let Lauren’s hands roam, squeezing leather, smoothing over lycra covered curves, fingers teasing patterns across her back. She smiled when Bo groaned, her hips pushing into Lauren’s. “This doesn’t make any sense.” Bo pushed her nose into Lauren’s hair and breathed in. “Why does this all feel so…”

“Familiar?” Lauren finished for her. 

“I’ve known you for twelve hours, how could I possibly…” Bo’s sentence trailed off and she looked at Lauren. “Come over for dinner.”

“What?”

“Let me make you dinner tomorrow.”

“But I work,” Lauren replied, her eyes traveling the length of Bo’s neck.

“Yeah?” Bo said with a smirk. “All night?”

Lauren leaned forward, placing soft kisses carefully along Bo’s throat. “You want to make me dinner at two in the morning?”

Bo groaned and her hands finally dropped to Lauren’s waist. “I’ll make you dinner whenever you want.”

“Alright,” Lauren said, holding Bo against her. “Tomorrow. I’ll call you.”

Her smile was radiant. “Well then I guess I’d better give you my number.”


	3. Chapter 3

Love is a symbol of eternity. It wipes out all sense of time, destroying all memory of a beginning and all fear of an end. --Madame de Stael  
__

My biggest fear in life is to be forgotten. --Evita Peron  
____

If she was forced to admit it, Lauren would have told anyone that her approach to the address Bo had given her pause. The building’s exterior reminded her more of an abandoned warehouse than a place someone actually lived in. What wasn’t covered in random mechanical parts and junk was gravel and dirt. When the taxi stopped, she peered out the window, listening to the radio drone on about an rise in serious illness in local hospitals. Lauren sighed and stuffed a handful of bills over the front seat.

“This the place?” she asked.

“You gave me the address, sweetheart.”

Lauren sighed and opened the door. “I was afraid you would say that,” she mumbled to herself and she stepped out into the darkness. She looked around, suddenly aware of her solitude amongst the junk piles. Dying amongst abandoned cars next to an overpass was not dissimilar to a few horror movies she was better off not watching in high school. Lauren walked up to the stairs leading up to what she could only assume was the entrance, assessing their structural integrity. 

“Hey.” The cabbie called after her. Lauren turned. “I’ll stick around til you get inside.”

She smiled and took the steps to the door which was cracked open. Lauren watched the cab drive off as she pushed inside a small room with a crude wooden bench and another door. She looked up at the bugs circling the light above her head before she knocked. There was a shuffle of feet on the other side of the door before it swung open.

“Hi,” Bo smiled.

“Hi,” Lauren replied, a crooked grin crossed her face when Bo’s eyes dropped, as if she was counting each button on her shirt.

Bo looked at the floor and smiled. “Please come in,” she said, stepping to the side.

The place didn’t seem any more architecturally sound from the inside as it was from the outside, but for some reason it made her smile. The pictures, the mismatched furniture, the vending machines and even the exposed studs made her feel at home. It was comfortable here. Lauren looked around and frowned at the table in the far corner which housed a laptop, a microscope and a small rack of test tubes.

“Can I get you some wine?”

Lauren draped her jacket over the back of a stool at the island in the kitchen and nodded. “Please,” she said, wandering over to the corner. “This microscope is incredible.” She bent forward and looked through the eyepiece at nothing.

“I have no idea how to use it,” Bo said, uncorking a bottle of wine.

“What?” Lauren laughed her surprise. “This thing could see the follicle mites on your face, it’s fantastic.”

“Oh my god, are you serious?” Bo made a face.

Lauren blinked as Bo walked over with two glasses and shook her head. “No. No, of course not.” Bo handed her a glass and she took a long sip. “I mean what person in their right mind talks about parasites on a date, right?” Bo chuckled. “So where’d you get this monster, anyway?” she asked of the equipment.

Bo shrugged. “Was here when we moved in, I guess.” She watched Lauren twist a dial on the side of the microscope and touch a couple test tubes. “So I know I invited you over for dinner, but um… I don’t cook.” Lauren looked over at Bo with a smirk. “So it’s on its way. I hope you like Chinese.”

“Are you kidding me?” Lauren said, walking over to the island and perching on a stool. “I lived on Mr. Hsing’s lo mein the entire way through med school.”

“Medicine, wow.” Bo sat next to her. “So what are you doing waiting tables?”

Lauren shrugged. “I guess being a doctor wasn’t all it cracked up to be.” Bo nodded and looked into her glass. “No,” Lauren said, her eyes closing. “You know, I told myself I wasn’t going to do this anymore.”

Bo looked up at her again. “What?”

“Lie.”

“Oh.”

Lauren took another long sip from her glass and studied Bo‘s face for a long moment. They stared at each other, each one wondering if the other would speak first. “You, uh,” Lauren started, twirling the stem of her glass between her fingers. “You seem like the kind of person I can trust, Bo.”

“Of course.” Bo nodded confidently. “You can trust me. Totally.”

Her lungs filled with a sigh that was years in the making. “I’ll tell you why I’m waiting tables,” she said. “But we’re gonna need a lot of wine.”

____

An hour later found the women on the couch, a wide array of open take out containers on the coffee table scattered around two empty plates. It must have been close to three in the morning, but neither seemed to notice.

“So then, I’m wearing this dress that my brother never let me live down,” Lauren continued, watching Bo refill her glass. “This… taffeta monstrosity.”

Bo laughed. “That’s right, sea breeze.”

Lauren looked at Bo dumbfounded. “How did you know?”

She shrugged with a smile. “Because sea breeze taffeta is the worst thing to happen to any dress.”

“Fair point,” Lauren nodded in agreement.

“Is your brother in town?” Bo asked.

Lauren paused before she answered. “No,” she said, sipping her wine. “I don’t know where he is actually.”

She could see Bo’s mind work behind her eyes as she set her glass down, carefully considering her words. “He’s the reason why you’re waiting tables?”

Lauren stared at Bo, blown away by her perception, but even more by her deduction. “Yeah,” she said. “I’m uh…” She smiled. “I’m not really sure this is first date material.”

“You don’t have to,” Bo said, shifting forward and taking the glass from Lauren and setting it on the table. “There’s lots we can talk about.” Lauren felt her face flush, she couldn’t tell if it was the wine, or Bo’s proximity. “In fact,” Bo started, leaning over. “There’s lots we can do, too.”

Her heart thudded inside her chest when Bo reached for her hand, bringing it to her lips. Her mind raced to quantify her physical reaction when she watched the warm glow spread from Bo’s fingers to hers, slowly bathing her in a wave of arousal from head to toe. Her breath hitched and Lauren looked at Bo.

“You’re not a liar.”

Lauren leaned forward, pulling Bo into a kiss. She knew how she was supposed to feel. She knew that this desire was a natural hunting mechanism. But it didn’t stop that feeling, that want, that overwhelming need. Bo’s hands framed her face, deepening their kiss and then Lauren saw a moment past, of leaning against the arm of the couch, Bo moving over her with desperate purpose, her face in deep concentration and curtained by her long dark hair. It was so vivid, so real.

Lauren pulled away and rested her forehead against Bo’s. “Have we done this before?” she panted.

Bo grinned and kissed her cheek, then her jaw. “I don’t want to sound like a jerk, but I think you’d remember.”

That was probably more of the truth than Lauren recalled from the books she‘d read. And when Bo’s lips traveled along her jaw and down her throat, she realized she was about to sleep with a sex demon. Despite the fact she was still wrapping her mind around the concept as a whole, as a human, she was putting herself in mortal danger. But she couldn’t bring herself to be afraid. Bo’s touch was soft, her eyes were gentle. It was as if Lauren’s body knew she was safe even though her mind couldn’t be sure.

Bo pulled back and looked at Lauren. “You okay?” she asked quietly.

Lauren nodded and swallowed. “Take me upstairs.”

The curve of Bo’s lips when she smiled was just as enchanting as the rest of her. She could tell Bo was impressed by her forwardness, but if she was honest, Lauren had taken in the bedroom on one of her trips to the bathroom earlier and hadn’t been able to stop thinking about it since. Bo kissed her then, quick and heated, before taking Lauren’s hand and leading her to the bedroom.

Through the bathroom, Bo’s bedroom was full of lush fabric and patterns. The few lamps on the dressers and side tables glowed and created a warmth Lauren felt in her chest. She stood at the foot of the bed and studied the flowing textile that twisted around the bedposts. When her eyes fell to the bed itself, Lauren saw herself there with Bo, wrapped around each other. She could hear it in her ears, the soft moans, the rustle of sheets, and the whimpered promise of what was to come. Lauren swallowed again, suddenly parched and gasped when she felt the hands circle her waist.

“Just me,” Bo whispered in her ear. Lauren shivered when Bo pressed herself against her back, one hand along the buttons on Lauren’s shirt, the other to her belt. She kissed the back of her neck.

“Bo,” Lauren said, sucking in a breath when Bo’s hand found her breast.

Bo hummed her approval. “Yeah?” She kissed her neck again, her fingers making short work of Lauren’s belt buckle. The button of her jeans came apart with ease and Bo wasted no time in pushing a hand under the denim. If Lauren had been about to say something, all words left her when Bo’s fingers dipped between her legs. The arm around her chest held Lauren on her feet when Bo began drawing lazy patterns, driving Lauren‘s threshold to a new level. She kissed Lauren’s ear. “Have we done this?”

Lauren’s groan turned into a chuckle. “You know what I mean,” she said, holding Bo’s hand still with her own. “I know you feel it, too.”

Bo pulled her hand from Lauren’s jeans and turned her around in her arms. Her eyes were wild with arousal and desire and Lauren imagined hers didn’t look that different. She reached up and pulled Bo to her, kissing her fiercely. Two could play at this game. But when she pulled away, she saw the blue flash in Bo’s eyes. 

“What was that?” Lauren asked, searching Bo’s face, waiting for it to happen again.

Bo smiled and tucked a few errant strands of hair behind Lauren’s ear. She kissed her softly, pulling the buttons free on her shirt and pushing it from her shoulders. Bo leaned in then, pressing her nose into the crook of her neck, filling her lungs. Lauren could hear her sigh and felt the grip on her waist ease up. She smiled. Bo really was feeling it, too.

This phenomenon was compelling, vivid memories of a time that never existed. How could she have so many thoughts in her head about a woman she only just met? And how could Bo feel and see the same? Lauren’s eyes drifted shut when Bo tasted her skin, her mouth moving from her shoulder to her jaw. Her head tilted to the side as she was awash with the image of Bo kissing her way down Lauren’s body until she stopped on her knees, burying her nose in her hip. Lauren jumped as her mind brought her back to the present and Bo pulled away.

“Are you okay?” she asked. It was the second time.

Lauren smiled at her, her fingers starting to pull at Bo’s top. “Couldn’t be better,” she replied, protesting only when Bo stopped her hands and led her to the foot of the bed. Lauren sat on the hastily made bed and watched Bo take her time in peeling off each layer of clothing she wore. By the time she’d bared herself, Lauren felt like a caged animal, her hands twitched, her breath quick. Her tongue wet her lips and Bo smiled.

“I think you could be better,” she said. Lauren chuckled breathlessly and started to move backwards onto the bed as Bo crawled over her. She dipped her head, leaving a trail of wet kisses from Lauren’s breast to her lips and Bo smiled down at her. She touched Lauren’s face, her fingers traced her jaw to her throat to her chest and there Lauren felt that undertow of arousal that moved through her like a tidal wave. Bo.

Lauren lifted her head to see Bo pull her jeans from legs and toss them to the floor. With a smirk that sent a distinct message to Lauren’s core, Bo moved over her again.

There was another memory, of a feeling in Lauren’s body, of Bo pressing herself against her, moving in careful time with each other. A firm hand at her back held her close, the other holding her leg over Bo’s hip. It was a moment of release and of surrender, of love and of undeniable pleasure. So vivid was this memory, Lauren shouldn’t have been surprised to find herself in a similar way when her mind found its way back to the present. She braced herself on one hand and held onto Bo with the other, lost in the middle of the sheets on a bed with a woman she barely knew, yet felt irresistibly drawn to. Was this the Fae at work? Was it a natural attraction? Lauren wanted to believe the latter, but couldn’t deny the former either. But she was convinced that Bo wanted her for more than a feed, despite them never talking about it. She just knew. Lauren looked up at Bo who held her bottom lip between her teeth, deep in concentration. She moved so smoothly and so precisely, Lauren believed the beauty of that dance alone was worth anything that may befall her, Fae be damned. She was a work of art.

When Bo looked down at Lauren, she smiled shyly at being caught admiring, and stilled her hips when the flash of blue crossed Bo’s eyes again. Bo slowed to a stop and blinked it away, almost embarrassed to have let it slip. She leaned down and kissed Lauren quickly, resting their foreheads together. “I’m sorry,” Bo breathed, her hips seemed to begin to move of their own accord. “Please don’t be afraid.”

Despite the warnings, Lauren couldn’t make herself afraid, there was something about Bo that was worth believing in. She whimpered at the movement, her hips unable to ignore Bo’s, and kissed Bo quickly once. Then twice, she took Bo’s lip between her teeth on the third and the fourth was long and intense. Lauren pulled away breathless and looked into Bo’s eyes. “I’m not afraid,” she said, pulling Bo into another kiss. Her hips urged Bo on and she could see the blue glow again just before her eyes closed and Bo moaned into their kiss. She pulled away from Lauren’s mouth suddenly, burying her face in Lauren’s shoulder, her hips working relentlessly. Bo’s arms were like a vice, one hand on Lauren’s back and the other on her ass, pulling her impossibly close.

She clung to Bo, riding the unending waves until she felt another warm glow spread across her back. Lauren shivered and sighed, every effort going toward keeping up with this succubus. Once she found comfort in the rhythm, Lauren’s subconscious bombarded her with image after image, memory after memory, of her, of Bo, of every second together. It played like a movie, fast forwarding through their life together from friendship to relationship, from breaking up to coming back together.

Lauren leaned into Bo’s ear, her breath short. “More,” she whispered.

Bo’s eyes opened and she grinned, the warmth spilling from her hands. Lauren moved again, the sensation building every movement against Bo. She closed her eyes as more memories crowded her mind, impromptu sex in the lab, Trick’s lair, the alley outside the Dal. The memory of Bo’s lips on hers to keep her silent in the Ash’s office. Lauren groaned, her hips working steadily with Bo’s.

“Don’t stop, please.” The wish was plaintive and Bo acquiesced. She poured energy into Lauren’s body, her back arching against her, and watched her lose control to the only thing that mattered. There wasn’t even the chance Lauren could process any of the memories that flew through her now. All that mattered was Bo.

And at the same time, Bo surrendered. She kissed Lauren desperately, pushing them both over and onto the pillows. She shifted carefully and never missed a beat, overwhelming Lauren with her strength and skill and bringing her to the edge in seconds. Lauren arched from the bed, her fingers sliding through the sweat on Bo‘s back until they held her ass in her hands. Bo moved purposefully against her, paying careful attention to Lauren’s breath and the timbre in her voice. And when Lauren fell silent, Bo leaned down and closed her mouth over the pulse at Lauren’s throat. A second later and it felt like the room was full of white noise. Lauren cried out and pressed against Bo, who kept her close while she rode out her own release, pressing harder and harder with each thrust.

Lauren closed her eyes and held on to Bo, both women finding it hard to stop moving against each other. When her eyes opened again, Lauren stared at the ceiling over Bo’s shoulder and frowned at it’s dry walled and finished appearance. Her head turned quickly to the side to see familiar furniture in a newly painted room. “Oh my god,” Lauren said, patting Bo’s back. “Bo… Bo.”

Bo groaned. “What, what’s wrong?” Her half-lidded eyes met Lauren’s excited expression.

“I remember.”

____


	4. Chapter 4

Where there is love there is life. --Mahatma Gandhi  
____ 

When dawn bloomed on the wall above the bed, Lauren was still awake, waiting for it. She spent the early hours pouring over every detail of her life, doing an internal inventory until she was satisfied that nothing was missing. She continued to ruminate, however, on the cause of her memory loss and its subsequent return. It made sense that Trick had tried to rewrite her history but why or how had they managed to undo his curse?

Bo stirred, sighing softly as she rolled onto her side. It would be ten minutes before she was fully conscious and watching her emerge from the haze of sex and sleep was a beautiful thing. Bo propped her head up on a hand and smiled at Lauren. “You’re up early, Doctor.”

“I have a lot on my mind.” She smiled sleepily.

Bo smoothed her hand across the sheet. “Wanna talk about it?”

“It’s just a lot to take in, discovering that someone tried to write me out of history.”

“I can imagine,” Bo said sympathetically.

Lauren pulled her knees to her chest. “And I guess what’s most confusing is that he wrote me back in.”

“He probably realized how dull things were without you,” Bo grinned.

“Or he needs something from me.” Lauren sat up and threw her legs over the side of the bed, putting feet to cold floor. She collected her clothes from the floor surrounding the bed and began to redress. 

“Where are you going?”

Lauren zipped her jeans and buttoned her shirt. “To find out what he wants.”

When Lauren turned to leave, Bo scrambled to her feet and reached out for her hand. “Hey, hey, hey,” she said. “What’s the rush?” Lifting her chin with a finger, she tucked a strand of hair behind Lauren’s ear.

“Bo,” she said plaintively.

She brought her hands to cup Lauren’s face. “Come back to bed. He’ll still be there later.”

Bo’s singular pursuit to get Lauren back in bed was one wrought with uncertainty. Any other day, Lauren would fall into her kiss and back into bed with Bo but today she was preoccupied with getting at Trick; at continuing the conflict between the two.

Lauren bowed her head. “As much as I would love to jump back into bed with you, Bo, you know I have to deal with him.”

Bo held her hands. “Let me come with, at least,” she said.

“You’ve done more than enough,” Lauren said. “Let me take it from here.” Lauren surveyed Bo’s naked body as she backed away. She took a step backward and faltered, stepping forward again to grab Bo and kiss her fiercely. When she broke away again, her thumb caressed Bo’s cheekbone. “I’ll be back soon,” she said and passed through the bathroom to the stairs.

“Lauren?” One hand on the railing, she turned toward Bo who stood next to the bathtub. “I love you.”

The enormity of the past few days hit her like a freight train then. Lauren’s eyes fluttered and she held her stomach because the ache that she felt was beginning to overwhelm her. Her grip on the railing loosened and she returned to Bo, holding her face as she kissed her again. Bo’s hands squeezed her sides and pulled her tight against her body. When she broke their kiss, Lauren rested her forehead against Bo’s. “I love you, too,” she said as she turned away.   
__

Downstairs, Kenzi sat at the island, reading the comics section in the newspaper and sipping an absurdly large mug of coffee.

“Hey Doc.” Kenzi checked her imaginary watch. “I must’ve missed the morning overture.”

“So did I,” Lauren smirked as she poured herself a cup of coffee. 

“I had the weirdest dream last night,” Kenzi said, scratching her head. “You were in it, but… it wasn’t you. But it was you.” Kenzi frowned. “You know?”

Lauren nodded. “I had the same dream.”

“Weird.”

“Fae,” Lauren corrected.

Kenzi blinked. “Seriously?”

Lauren downed the rest of her coffee and smiled enigmatically. “I can’t talk about it right now, Kenz.” She made her way for the door.

“Wait, what do you mean?” Kenzi called after her. “Where are you going?”

Lauren pulled her jacket over her shoulders. “I’m going to see a man about a book.”

____

The bell on the door jingled as it was wrenched open. “I demand to see the doctor!” Shouted a familiar voice. Trick looked up to see Vex, pale and sickly, advancing on him. “Where is she?” He insisted, slamming a hand down on the bar top.

“Lower your voice,” Trick whispered.

“Where is Lauren?”

Trick froze. How had Vex remembered her? “Come with me.” Trick led Vex to his sitting room. “How did you know about Lauren?”

“Have you gone mad? Slave to the Light, friend to the Dark, doctor to all, but she especially likes playing doctor with your granddaughter. Who doesn’t know her story?

“This can’t be.” Trick lifted the book of blood.

“What have you done, you old fool?”

“I wrote her out of Fae history.”

“You idiot! She’s the one who cured the Fae plague the first time. What if you’ve erased how she did it? You’ve doomed us all!” Vex sniffled.

“If you remember her, then chances are the others do, too.”

Vex paced. “I’m not going to die like this: all snotty and wheezy and feverish.”

“Calm down!” Trick hushed him.

“What are you going to do, old man?”

“I’ll think of something.” Trick dabbed the sweat from his brow.

The stairs creaked and a voice came from the shadows: “Why don’t you write it in your book?”

Trick and Vex turned simultaneously. “Lauren,” Trick said.

“I hope you’ll understand, but I won’t be able to work my shift tonight,” she said seriously.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have used you like that.” He looked away.

“Are you, really? Or are you just saying that because you got caught?”

“I never meant for any of this--” Trick started. “People are dying because of me. Please say that you can help us.”

“You hounded us, chased us, threatened us, lied to us, you even tried to use us against each other in the name of your family. And as much as I want to say no, I’ll do it, but not for you and not for the Fae. I’m doing this for my family.”

She crossed to Vex, who stared at her with wide-eyed awe. Lauren touched his forehead, his skin was on fire. She looked to Trick. “He should be in bed.”

“There are twenty more just like him upstairs.”

“I suggest you find a place where we can quarantine the infected or else this is going to explode and I need time to concoct the cure,” Lauren said. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to get my medical bag.” And just as quickly as she entered the conversation, she climbed the stairs and left the room.  
__

When Lauren returned to the clubhouse, she found Kenzi and Bo sprawled on the couch together, watching television. Bo perked up at the sight of Lauren. “That was fast.”

She flicked the locks on the large trunk that sat in the corner and began sorting through medical supplies. “Trick unleashed the Fae plague again with his last attempt to erase me.”

“Shit, are you serious?” Bo asked, standing and walking toward Lauren.

She looked up as she stuffed a satchel with gauze, antibiotics and syringes. “Just please, please, please stay clear of the Dal until I get this figured out.”

“How can I help?” Bo asked.

Lauren stood, slinging the satchel over her shoulder before pressing her palm against Bo‘s cheek. “Stay safe. For me.” She turned away to leave when Bo reached out for her hand.

“Hey,” she kissed Lauren’s fingers. “I know you’re off to save the world but don’t you think we should talk about what happened?”

“I can’t.” She kissed Bo on the cheek. “I have to go.” She marched toward the front door. “Kenzi, keep her here,” she called over her shoulder as she shut the door behind her.   
__

The Dal was a madhouse. As a way station between counties, Trick declared the bar a quarantined zone and called every tech from the Light Fae labs he could to help him with it in Lauren‘s absence. They pushed aside pool tables and bar tables for rows of cots for the sick and tables for the techs to treat them as they arrived.

Trick sat at the bar, surveying the room full of groaning and crying Fae, feeling much the same as he did. He might have felt better if he hadn’t brought this on himself. The television in the corner blared over the noise, talking about a sickness sweeping random parts of the population. Trick shook his head. If they couldn’t nip this in the bud, the Fae risked being outed to the entire human world.  
__

Bo and Kenzi sat in silence, a used car commercial blared on the television. Lauren had left them an hour ago and Kenzi was trying to keep Bo placated with a matinee showing of Reality Bites but Bo was cleaning out her phone messages while she waited for it to ring. She sighed and dropped the phone on the coffee table.

“You know, I don’t know why she has to go prove that she can save the Fae alone.”

“Easy, Succubus. Doc knows best.”

Bo’s hands clapped onto her lycra-covered thighs. “I can’t just sit here and wait for her to come back.”

“Honey, you’ve made a career out of waiting for Lauren. One more day isn’t gonna kill you.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means what it means. You’ve got puppy dog eyes for Lauren and no matter what the reason,” she held up a hand and started counting off her fingers as she spoke. “Pod person girlfriend, putting you on a break, slave to the Ash, running out on the Light Fae, hiding from the Una Mens, Bo, my sweet Bo, you were always waiting for Lauren.”

Bo sighed and looked at her lap. “I hate it when you’re right, Sassafrass.” She rest her head on Kenzi’s shoulder.

“I know, sweetie.” Kenzi kissed her forehead. She hesitated.

The look of concern on Kenzi’s face made Bo pause. “What?”

“You’re all clammy,” she said, hand covering Bo’s forehead.

“I’m fine,” Bo shied away from Kenzi’s touch and stood unsteadily.

“You don’t look fine.”

“Kenz, I always look fine.” She braced herself on the back of the sofa, her face flushed. Kenzi dialed her phone. Bo held up a finger. “Don’t you call her,” she said.

“I wouldn’t dream of upsetting the Doc.”  
__

Kenzi had ordered a pizza boy for Bo and a pepperoni w/extra cheese for herself. She was tucking into a piece of the pie when the delivery boy ran through the living room, half-clothed. “Hey wait,” Kenzi stood. “Where are you going?”

He dropped his shirt and stopped to pick it up. “I don’t know what you heard about me, but I don’t do sick chicks.”

“Shit.” Kenzi dropped her piece of pizza and ran upstairs. “Bo-Bo?” She rounded the corner to the bedroom and found Bo passed out on the mattress. Kenzi rushed to her side. “Come on babe, wake up.” She shook Bo. “Bo, don’t do this.” She felt the panic building inside like steam in a tea kettle. “Shit!” Kenzi shouldered Bo onto her back and covered her over with a sheet. She dialed her phone.  
__

Lauren’s phone rang. She checked the caller ID and then her watch. It had only been two hours since she left Kenzi and Bo to their own devices. She pressed a button. “Hello?”

“Doc, we’ve got a situation.” Kenzi’s panicked voice cut through the silence of Trick’s library.

“What is it?”

“Bo’s sick and I ordered her a pizza boy but she couldn’t feed.”

“What?” Lauren dropped the book she was holding onto the desk with a thump.

“She’s been passed out upstairs since he left.”

“Shit.” Her eyes roamed the room. “I‘m on my way.”  
__


	5. Chapter 5

Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage. --Lao Tzu  
__

 

Kenzi was staring at the television when she heard Lauren scramble through the entryway and blow through the front door. Kenzi paced in front of the kitchen as the reporter detailed the importance of hygiene. When Kenzi and Lauren made eye contact, they didn’t speak. Both not wanting to say what was truly on their minds. 

Lauren took the steps two at a time and hurried into the bedroom. Bo was flushed, sweaty and congested. Just like the others.

“Bo,” Lauren shook her shoulder. “Wake up, Bo.” She dropped her medical bag on the nightstand and retrieved her stethoscope. Taking Bo’s vitals, Lauren grew agitated. He numbers were just like all the others. Bo had the Fae plague. She bowed her head and looked through her hair at Bo. “This can’t be happening.” Lauren sniffed.

“Doc, you’re sniffling.”

“I’m fine.” 

“But if you get sick, who’s going to save the Fae?” Kenzi’s eyes darted to Bo and back to Lauren.

“I’m fine, Kenz. It’s just allergies.” The mattress dipped as Lauren sat beside Bo on the bed. She brushed strands of her hair away from Bo’s face and touched the back of her hand to Bo’s forehead. She was boiling. Lauren went to the bathroom and ran the tap. She wrung a washcloth in the stream of cold water and returned to Bo’s side. Pressing the washcloth to Bo’s forehead, Lauren turned to Kenzi. “You’re going to have to keep her cool.”

“Me? You’re the doctor.”

“I have to get back to the lab. I’m leaving you in charge of Bo.”

“You can’t just leave her with me. What if she gets sicker?” She whined. “What if she dies?” Kenzi whispered urgently. 

“I’m not gonna die,” a gravelly voice said.

Kenzi covered her mouth. Lauren spun around and smiled at the sight of Bo, eyes open, leaning on her elbow. “Hey,“ she said, sitting beside Bo, Lauren cupped her cheek. “How’re you feeling?”

“Like shit,” she croaked, looking over Lauren‘s shoulder. “Wasn’t Rene Russo coming?”

Lauren rolled her eyes with a smile. “I wish.”

Bo’s hand encircled Lauren’s wrist and held her hand against her face. “You’ve got this,” Bo said.

“I’ve got this,” Lauren nodded. There was no ‘I’ll try’ here, just a resolve stronger than forged steel.

“You guys, this is like in Outbreak, when Dustin Hoffman goes to see Rene Russo on her deathbed--”

“Kenzi,” Lauren hushed.

“I’m not dying,” Bo repeated with confidence and looked at Lauren. She swallowed, her eyes screaming her fear. “I’m not dying,” said again.

Lauren took a deep breath and smiled. “Not on my watch, you’re not.” She smoothed a hand over Bo’s head and leaned over, pressing her lips on her forehead. “Get some rest, I’ll be back soon.”  
__

The click of the lock on the door to the Light Fae laboratory echoed through the empty building. As Lauren stepped through it, she felt the ache in her body. She looked immediately to the table she had been working at before she’d been called away and was pleased to find her work still out and untouched. It had been a difficult series of hours, dealing with not only coming back to Fae territory, but returning to a place she both loved and hated for over five years. Lauren took her jacket off and draped it over the chair next to the table. She surveyed the samples and tests, looking particularly at the plague cure she’d been synthesizing since the morning. Lauren impressed herself with the amount of the cure she remembered and what she couldn’t was covered by the Light Fae’s archive. She checked her watch. Not long now.

Lauren unbuttoned her shirt and pulled it from her shoulders. She was happy to be alone. Not that anyone ever spoke to her. There were plenty of techs and doctors she recognized from her time with the Light. Some looked at her with curiosity, some with complete disdain, but they all whispered to each other when she was around, spreading rumors like the kids in high school did. There was the dead homeless man in her closet, the brain in the jar next to her bed, and her personal favorite, carrying the unaligned succubus’ child. It was an amazing repertoire for less than seventy-two hours of being back, but not much more clever than those kids from school.

Lauren tied off her arm and drew a vial of blood with practiced ease. She’d lost count how many times she’d drawn her own blood over these past number of months for the purpose of control or study. Now she hardly even felt the needle. Lauren stuck a cotton ball on the small bead of blood that rose from her elbow and kept her arm bent while she pulled a glass slide in front of her. She knew what the answer would be. And if not, then the soreness, the sneezing, and the headaches had incredible timing.

A piece of tape was stuck haphazardly on her arm to give her use of her other hand again. Lauren prepared the slide of her blood and sniffed lightly. Her eyes closed when she leaned over and only opened when she could feel her eyelashes brush against the eyepiece. Lauren’s eyes closed again and she stood up, leaning against the steel table, her head lowered. Not only did she still have Fae blood in her, but she was also infected with the Fae plague.

The sigh shuddered through her whole body. Oh, Bo.

Lauren jumped when the alarm for the plague cure sounded and she scrambled to silence it. She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and looked at the array of syringe inserts and she smiled. It would work. This will work, she told herself. Lauren pulled on her shirt and then her jacket, loading a small case of the inserts and stuffed it into her bag. She would stop by the Dal first and then home, and with any luck, this would all be over by tomorrow.  
__

“Trick,” Lauren called, descending into his living space. “Trick,” she said again as she reached the lower level. Her eyes scanned the room. There was a pile of books strewn across his desk, a long cold cup of tea, a quilt on the floor next to a chair until finally she set eyes on him face down in his infamous book. “Shit,” Lauren rushed to his side. “Trick?” Sitting him up, she guided him back into the chair. Lauren was furious. “Trick, wake up.” She shook his shoulder. “What did you do?”

“It didn’t work,“ he grumbled as he started to come around.

“Serves you right.” Lauren set her medical bag on a side table and snapped on a pair of gloves. She waved a thermometer in the air, shaking it efficiently. “Under your tongue,” Lauren said, sliding it into his mouth.

“You know most doctors use digital--” Trick mumbled around the thermometer.

“Shh… Most doctors would laugh at me if I told them about the Fae, too. However, a mercury thermometer will never let you down. No electricity needed.” She withdrew the thermometer and made a face.

Lauren placed her stethoscope on his chest and listened. “How are you feeling?”

“Worse than any flu I’ve ever had.”

“Well, I brought you something,” Lauren said. “Based on the cure for the original plague’s formula.” She held up a syringe. “Let’s see how I did.” Lauren swabbed his vein and inserted the needle. “Now we wait.”

“How long?”

“It’s variable to how long you’ve been sick, how sick you are and how much of the cure you received.” She looked at Trick. “You should start feeling better in a few hours--” The ringing of Lauren’s telephone interrupted them. She checked the number--it was Kenzi again. She smashed the button hard and answered the phone.

“Lauren,” Kenzi’s voice wavered. “She won’t wake up, I am freaking out!”

“I’ll be right there.” She ended her call and turned to Trick. “I have to go. I’ll check back in with you later.”  
__

Kenzi met her at the door, wringing her hands. “She was talking crazy and then she just passed out.

Lauren rushed upstairs, dropping to her knees next to Bo’s bed. She pressed her hand against Bo’s forehead--she was on fire. Lauren dug into her bag and took her temperature. Reading the numbers, Lauren went into crisis mode. “She’s burning up. Kenzi, go to the gas station and buy as many bags of ice as you can carry.” 

Kenzi nodded somberly and then disappeared downstairs

In the meantime, Lauren made a small icepack with the contents of the freezer. When she returned to Bo, she sat on the bed beside her, pressing the ice pack to her cheeks and forehead. “C’mon, babe, fight.” She swabbed her arm and injected her with the cure.

When Lauren heard Kenzi clomping up the stairs, she turned on the tub. Reaching the top of the stairs, she dropped a pair of bags of ice before scuttling away only to return a few moments later with two more bags.

Lauren was impressed. When she had asked for what Kenzi could carry, she never dreamed she could carry so much. She began emptying the bags into the tub.

“Has she, uh, woken up since I left?”

“No, I’m afraid not,” Lauren said quietly. “But,” she perked up, “an ice bath should do the trick. Help me lift her.”

It was a comedy of errors, the two of them lifting Bo by the armpits and dragging her to the tub. The problem arose once they reached the bathtub and couldn’t maneuver Bo into its icy waters. Lauren kicked off her shoes and moved around Bo’s back, wrapping her in a bear hug. Kenzi grabbed Bo’s feet and Lauren stepped into the tub, sinking into the ice-filled water with Bo.

Kenzi stumbled away. “Geez Doc, you take your job pretty seriously.”

Lauren gritted her teeth. She was freezing, risking hypothermia to hold Bo’s head up on the off-chance that she would wake up. She smoothed Bo’s hair to the side of her neck and splashed ice water on her pulse point. “Bo,” Lauren said against her ear. “Wake up.” Her teeth chattered.

“You’ve had enough, Doc. Get out of there.”

“No, not yet,” she said stubbornly. “Wake up, Bo.” Lauren said louder, shaking her roughly.

Bo gasped unexpectedly, eyes wide open. Lauren tightened her grip around Bo’s waist. “What the hell?” She struggled.

“Take it easy,” Lauren fought with her until Bo realized what was happening.

Bo turned in Lauren’s arms, teeth chattering, a wet hand caressed her face. “You did it.” She smiled. 

“Mmm, it’s too early to tell,” she said modestly.

“Okay, but seriously, my liver is cold enough for extraction. Can we get out yet?”

Lauren shook violently from the cold. “C’mon,” Bo clambered to her feet and, swaying with effort, she held out a hand to Lauren. 

“Doc, you don’t look so good…” Lauren’s eyes fluttered.

Kenzi helped Bo step out of the tub unsteadily and put a hand out for Lauren, too. Lauren stepped into Bo’s side, wrapping her arms around Bo’s waist as they walked to the bed. Lauren climbed onto the bed and Bo worked quickly. Lauren’s teeth chattered rat-a-tat-tat and she trembled as she tried to get undressed. Bo began stripping off her own clothes and Kenzi turned around, embarrassed. “Oh for the love of Mike!” she exclaimed. When Lauren’s hands shook too much for her to unbutton her shirt, Bo stepped in, pulling it away from her body. Her hands ran up Lauren’s ribcage as she slipped the camisole from her body. When Bo climbed over Lauren and yanked her jeans from her hips Kenzi covered her face. “I’m just gonna be downstairs,” Kenzi pointed to the stairs. “You look like you’ve got this under control.”

As their bra and underwear were peeled away, Bo pulled back the blankets for Lauren and climbed in behind her. Their skin was cold and clammy. Lauren shivered constantly and Bo grew nauseous. Far from well, she was sure Lauren’s cure would kick in any minute now. She surrounded Lauren and held her tight against her, trading cool skin for hot as Bo’s temperature began to rise again.

It was hours later when Lauren woke with a start. Her phone sat, flashing on the bedside table. Reaching for it, she read display. Ten missed calls. “Shit.” She stood and gathered her miraculously dry clothes and shuffled to the bathroom to get dressed. 

She walked back to Bo’s side of the bed, sitting beside her, she recoiled when she touched Bo’s skin. Hot and sticky, she radiated heat from every pore. “Bo,” she said, patting her cheek.

“Hmm?” She squinted at Lauren, the heat from her own body, burning her eyes.

“Something’s wrong,” Lauren said urgently.

“What? What is it?” she asked, confused and full of sleep.

“The cure isn’t taking.” Lauren pulled a needle from her bag and unwrapped it. “I have to see Trick and get back to the lab.”

“Yeah, of course,” Bo agreed.

Lauren smiled apologetically. “I need a sample,” she said.

Bo didn’t say anything, just exposed her arm and lied back down against the pillows. Lauren watched her, so pale and weak. It was an unusual image, Bo was a prime example of her kind, to see her so contrary was like a shot to Lauren’s stomach. She withdrew some of Bo’s blood. On her way back to the lab, she’d get samples from others at the Dal to compare and find out what was going wrong.

Lauren taped the cotton to Bo’s skin and held it there, thinking maybe the epiphany would come to her, that maybe what Fae was left inside her could heal Bo, even just a little. Lauren laid hands on Bo, pressing them against her with intensity, concentrating with everything she had in her, but nothing happened. Lauren sighed, putting the sample in her bag.

“Bo,” she said and stopped herself.

A second later, Bo answered. “Yeah?”

But she couldn’t do it. Not yet. Lauren may have grown courageous over the years, but there was still a healthy dose of coward in her. She squeezed Bo’s hand. “Keep cool, okay?”

“I’m not going in the ice bath again,” she said to the ceiling, her eyes still closed.

“Don’t make me get in there with you.”

Bo smirked and Lauren smiled at the reaction. “Go,” Bo told her, squeezing Lauren’s fingers. “Make me proud.”  
____

Bo’s words circled around and around her head as she sat in the empty laboratory again. This time, she’d had Trick call ahead to have it emptied. Lauren needed the lab space, but she didn’t need to infect all those employees, whether they deserved it or not. Now Lauren sat at the stainless steel table, staring at the sample of the plague cure on her screen. She needed to find out what happened, why the cure didn’t work this time.

Her shirt had been discarded again, but this time because of the low grade fever that started that morning. Lauren narrowed her eyes at the screen. The plague hadn’t stripped Fae of their powers before, it just so happened in the villages of Fae in Africa, there wasn’t much opportunity to feed on short notice. She picked up her phone and dialed.

“What.” Trick’s voice was tired and hoarse.

“Trick have any strange Fae come to town lately?”

Trick coughed through the phone. “A couple, not that many.” There was a beat. “Why?”

“Because I think the plague’s mutated.”

There was a short silence over the end of the phone before: “I’ll get you those names.”  
____

“Hello?” Dyson poked his head inside the lab and looked around, sniffing the air. “Lauren?”

“Maybe she took off,” Tamsin suggested and she slid past him into the room. “Yo, Doc!” she called out.

“Tamsin,” Dyson shushed her.

“No, no, no, stop, stop!” Lauren appeared from the supply closet in the corner and covered her mouth with her arm. “You should have called,” she said, grabbing a couple of masks and shoving them at her visitors.

“Uh, you called us,” Tamsin said, taking the mask and putting it over her face.

“What’s going on, Lauren?” Dyson asked, putting his mask on. “Are there infected here?”

“Yeah,” Lauren sighed and shrugged. “Me.”

Dyson and Tamsin looked at each other uneasily. “But I thought this was a Fae plague,” he said.

Lauren turned and started walking back to her table. “It is,” she said. “I just… have a little Fae in me that’s decided to stick around a while.”

“Lauren…”

“Look,” Lauren turned and held up a hand. “I know I shouldn’t have done what I did and now this happened. It wasn’t my intention and I…” She straightened the pad of paper on the table in front of her. “I couldn’t regret it more.”

Dyson looked at Tamsin and sighed. “What do you need us to do?”

Lauren took a handful of tissues and wiped her nose. “The plague has mutated,” she started, tossing the tissues in the garbage and walking over to a sink. “The cure I discovered in the Congo doesn’t work. Somehow this new strain strips Fae of their powers and destroys the cure before it can start working.” Lauren washed her hands and dried them off on a towel. “I need the source. Patient Zero.”

“And where do we find Patient Zero?”

“That’s what I don’t know.” Lauren picked up a piece of paper and handed it to Dyson. “Trick says a Fae by the name of Eli Kozma came into town a couple days ago from Hungary. He exhibited many of the symptoms that…” She gestured to herself with a remorseful grin. “Well, that you can see in me.”

Dyson nodded and turned. “We’ll find him.”

“Dyson,” Lauren called after him. “I need him alive to synthesize a cure. Please go quickly.”

Dyson nodded and disappeared with Tamsin out the door.  
__


	6. Chapter 6

The best thing to hold onto in life is each other. --Audrey Hepburn  
__

Time was bleeding together, Kenzi and Bo had been on their own for hours and held a secret wish for Lauren to come home again. Bo snoozed quietly as Kenzi flipped through a magazine. If she was being honest, Kenzi would admit to trying to keep Bo alive long enough for Lauren to return with the cure like some Einstein to the Fae.

Sipping a cup of hot cocoa--something she whipped up to ease her nerves--Kenzi looked over at her friend. Bo was so much more than one word could define but if she had to pick one, Bo was her home. That place where she could go at the end of the day and just be herself, however she felt, and know that she was safe. 

She scooped out a marshmallow with her spoon which clacked noisily against her teeth. Kenzi sighed. Bo was already so thin, her usually plump, youthful skin had begun to sag and her bones had also started to show through. 

“It’s not polite to stare,” Bo remained completely still.

“Yeah, well, it’s not cool to lay there like a log while your BFF is freaking the hell out.”

“With cocoa.”

She smiled. “Want some?”

“I don’t think that would help to keep me cool.”

“Pssh, you’re gonna die, have some cocoa.”

“Always the realist, thanks Kenz.” Bo struggled to sit up. “Can I have another compress and a glass of water? I feel like a dried up sponge.” Kenzi happily busied herself for Bo and returned to her bed a few minutes later with the requested items. Bo sighed as she pressed the compress against her forehead. “I know I’m a succubus, but right now, this compress is better than sex.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t tell Lauren.” Kenzi patted her leg and crawled into bed beside Bo.

An easy silence fell between the two. Bo patted her cheeks with the compress and Kenzi stared at the ceiling. “Do you think we’ll always be together?”

Bo blinked against the compress before pulling it away and turning her head towards Kenzi. “Kind of a morbid question, Kenz.”

“So, you don’t.”

“No,” she sighed. “Of course we will.”

“What about Lauren?”

“What about her?”

“I think she’s still Fae.” Kenzi squeezed her eyes shut and waiting for Bo’s reaction.

“What? Why do you think that?”

“We’ve known this woman for five years and in that time I have never once seen her with allergies and now in the middle of a Fae plague she’s got the sniffles. Nuh uh, I call bullshit.”

“They do make allergy medication that masks symptoms.”

“I still call bullshit.”

“Okay, okay. So what if she’s Fae?”

“That’s what I’m asking you. What are you gonna do?”

“There’s nothing to do, Kenz. I love her--Fae, human, whatever.”

“Everybody knows that. What about me? Am I always going to be the third wheel? Won’t that get boring after awhile? And how long till Science Girl figures out how to make faebies with you? Then what?”

“Kenzi, I’m just trying to focus on the next few hours,” Bo groaned. “As if I know anything about making faebies.

“Mark my words,” Kenzi held up a finger. “Totes gonna happen.”

“Easy, girl.” Bo nestled into her pillow and pulled the compress over her eyes. “I’m gonna get some sleep, Kenz.”

“Yeah,” Kenzi sighed and cast a worried look over at Bo. “Okay.”  
__

They had been staking out Patient Zero‘s apartment for three hours. There was no action and they were under a time crunch so they did the unthinkable: they waltzed right in the front door. When there was no answer to their knocks, Dyson’s boot blew the door out of its frame.

“Eli Kozma!” Dyson bellowed as he walked through the broken door. “Surrender yourself, by order of the Ash.”

“Come on out, dickhead,” Tamsin said. “We know you’re sick.”

Walking into the cramped living room, turning on lights as they went, there were few signs of life. A newspaper from yesterday, a half-eaten sandwich and a cigarette, burned to the filter in an ashtray on the table. They looked at each other and then to the last door at the end of a short hallway. Dyson sniffed and shook his head. “He’s dead.” Tamsin stepped in front of him and they shared a knowing glance as she spun the doorknob and threw open the door.

“Eureka,” Tamsin called out. “Decomposing dude, party of one. I’ll call the cleaners.” She said, walking out the door.

Dyson dialed the lab and waited as it rang ten times before Lauren finally answered. “Hello?”

“We found Kozma, but Lauren,” he cleared his throat. “He’s dead, I‘m sorry.”  
____

Lauren hung up the phone and set it down on the table, staring off into the distance. This was it. She had nowhere to go now. She had systematically destroyed the Fae without even trying to by meddling where she shouldn‘t have. And now after all of that time, Lauren had the pleasure of telling the woman she loved that not only was she single-handedly responsible for her infection, but she had no cure for it. Bo was going to die. They all would.

The test tubes clinked together as Lauren took the rack of the latest batch of the old cure in her hand. She hurled it at the wall with a grunt, a satisfying smash of glass exploded against the wall and fell to the floor. The sound triggered the tears she hadn’t felt and the anger she didn’t know she had. Her hands shook as she held her head in her hands, tears falling for Bo, for Kenzi, for everyone she let down, past and present. She felt like an accidental terrorist again, like a failure who can never quite overcome the odds. Now she was a scientist without an experiment, with a problem there was no way to solve. 

Lauren wiped the tears from her eyes and slid off the stool at her table, walking slowly to the debris created by her outburst. She swept the glass into a dust pan and carried it over to the large garbage can in the corner of the room. If there was some way she could find a way to get the cure to the Fae without the plague destroying the carrier, she’d be set. And Patient Zero was supposed that way. Lauren sighed as a shard of glass fell over the side of the garbage can and she bent over to pick it up. There has to be a way, she thought to herself, letting the glass fall from her fingers. She sucked in a breath, internally chastising herself for picking up broken glass with her hands.

“Way to go, Doctor,” she berated herself, walking to the First Aid kit hanging on the wall. She held her finger upright while she opened the metal cabinet with her other hand. It wasn’t until she held the band aid in her hand and looked at her finger, the blood had collected enough to start sliding toward her hand, that it came to her.

“Wait a second,” she said out loud. She looked at the blood on her hand and then back to her table and the remaining set of tubes containing the old plague cure. “Wait a second!”

Lauren dropped the bandage and raced to the table. She took the blood from her hand and created a slide, peering through the microscope. Leaning back, she dropped the old cure onto the slide and looked through the eyepiece. “Come on, come on, come on,” she whispered. Every other sample she looked at showed the plague attacking the cure, attaching itself to the Fae cells and destroying the cure before it even had a chance. But hers. Lauren watched the cure overtake the plague, unaffected by the diminished virus in her blood. And in a few moments, the sample of her blood was cured.

Lauren slammed her hand on the table. “Gotcha.”  
____

Lauren rushed into the Dal hours later with a raft of medical supplies. She begin passing syringes and alcohol swabs to the techs that were taking care of the masses in the main room. “Where’s Trick?” She asked.

The techs looked at each other. “In his room,” one said.

Continuing downstairs, she made her way to Trick’s private quarters. She knocked once, twice. No answer. “Shit.” She opened the door. Trick lay on his bed, sweating profusely. “Trick?

“Bo?” He said deliriously.

She moved to his bedside, her hand already holding a syringe ready to go. “Trick, it’s Lauren.”

Trick tried to prop himself up. “Where’s Bo?”

“She’s not coming,” Lauren said, gently guiding him back to bed. She sighed. “She’s sick, Trick.”

“No…” Trick’s voice cracked. “She can’t be,“ he sobbed. “This is all my fault.“ Inconsolable, he gripped Lauren’s hand. “I am so sorry for everything that I’ve done.” Lauren rolled up his sleeve and swabbed his elbow. He looked at his bared arm as Lauren primed a needle. “You made another cure?”

Lauren looked at him, as if there was ever another option. “I did,” she replied. “Now just sit back and relax. You’ll be feeling better in no time.” She patted his hand as she taped a cotton ball over the needle mark. Standing, she turned and hurried to the door.

“You’re leaving?”

She patted her bag. “I have to get this to Bo.”

“Of course,” he said laying back down. “You always take care of my Bo.”

“I try.” Lauren bowed her head.

“Thank you.” It came out like a sigh as he drifted off to sleep and Lauren slipped out the door. 

She ran up the stairs and through the bar. She hadn’t heard from Kenzi in hours so she assumed Bo was okay, but still the not knowing was making her crazy. She drove erratically, speeding, passing cars, red-lining the Camaro on the freeway as she made her way back to Bo. She skidded into the driveway at the clubhouse and ran inside. “Kenzi?” She shouted.

Kenzi appeared at the top of the stairs. “Quiet, the baby’s trying to sleep,” she hushed.

“Is she okay?” Lauren’s voice wavered, unsure of the answer she’d receive.

“She’s weak but she’s a fighter.” Kenzi shrugged. “Could really use that cure, Doc.”

“I have it,” Lauren said, climbing the stairs to Bo. 

At her bedside Bo turned her head and smiled at Lauren as she prepared the needle. “My hero,” she sighed as Lauren plunged the syringe into her vein.

“Won’t be long now.” She smiled, brushing the hair away from Bo’s forehead and kissed her there. Lauren stood and peeled off her jacket and kicked off her shoes before climbing in bed with Bo. “Get some rest,” she whispered. “I’ll be here when you wake up.”

Kenzi smiled at the pair. There was a time when she used to resent Lauren, even reviled her, but now she saw her for what she truly was. A healer, a lover and a friend. Not to mention a huge science nerd, but that was proving more and more handy lately. She stole one last look at Bo and Lauren before disappearing downstairs.

Lauren was exhausted. She’d slept a total of two hours in the past four days and now, lying next to Bo, heat rolling off her, Lauren felt herself slipping. She had given herself the cure some time ago and the immediate need to sleep accompanied its application. Lauren, however, shook it off and continued on to the Dal. Beside Bo she resisted still, face pressed against Bo’s shoulders, arms tight around her waist. No, Lauren would sleep when she knew Bo was out of the woods and until then she would hold on for dear life.  
__

She gasped and sat up in bed, her heart beating frantically. Lauren looked around the room, her eyes falling on her jacket, her bag, and finally Bo who still slept soundly next to her. She leaned over Bo to kiss her forehead. The fever had broken and Bo’s temperature was on its way to normal. She sighed and closed her eyes. The cure worked.

As for herself, Lauren felt almost normal. She stepped out of bed gingerly to avoid waking Bo and made her way down the stairs. The smell of coffee still hung in the air and though it seemed a few hours old, Lauren wasn’t going to be picky.

“Hey,” Kenzi said, obviously surprised. She scrambled off the couch and joined Lauren in the kitchen, watching her pour the rest of the coffee from the pot. “How is she?”

Lauren sipped the warm coffee and turned to Kenzi. “Fever’s broken,” she started. “Sounds like she’s breathing better.”

Kenzi’s eyes brightened. “So she’s okay.”

Lauren nodded. “I think she’ll be fine.”

The grin that spread across Kenzi’s face at the news made Lauren feel like it had all been worth it. “Okay,” Kenzi said. “Because I was thinking we should get Bo something to eat.”

Lauren paused and considered. “You’re right.”

“So…” Kenzi leafed through some take out menus. “What do you feel like?”

“Pizza?” Lauren said hopefully.

“No,” Kenzi shook her head. “Just had that. Chinese?”

“Same. Sushi?”

Kenzi tasted the air. “Yum!”

In the hour between ordering the food and the requested delivery guy arriving at their door, Bo had awoken. She looked brighter, her eyes shone in the lamplight of her bedroom, but her skin was still loosely draped over her ribs. It had been days since she fed but it was with some trepidation that Lauren kissed her and left her with the delivery boy. She descended the stairs slowly, not really feeling the victory anymore. 

“Delicious!” Kenzi popped a spicy tuna roll into her mouth and chewed happily. Lauren pulled out a stool and cracked a pair of chopsticks apart. Tucking her hair behind her ear, she plucked a salmon nigiri from the tray. The bed above them chattered as it moved across the floor above. Lauren sighed. Kenzi squeezed her shoulder. “You sure you don’t wanna go for a walk?”

Lauren shook her head. “No, it’s fine. Have to get used to it, don’t I?”

“Honey, who are you kidding? You’re never going to get used to it.”

She laughed half-heartedly. “You’re probably right. I’m screwed.”

Kenzi mixed wasabi into a bowl of soy sauce before dipping a salmon skin roll into the spicy mixture. “No, but I’m betting by tonight you will be.”

“You know what I mean.”

“Aye, but are you getting my meaning?”

Lauren paused. “I don’t understand.”

“We’ve been through this and in all those times before you decided Bo was worth it.”

“So you’re saying I’ve made this decision already…”

Kenzi dropped her chopsticks and looked at Lauren pointedly. “I’m saying get over it or get on with it because--I swear to God--if you one day decide you can’t deal with Bo having some on the side and break her heart again, I will kill you.”

Blinking, Lauren lowered her chopsticks and looked at her lap. “Kenzi, I--”

“You never meant for that to happen, I know. But the fact is, it happened and you can’t pretend it’s not your fault.”

Lauren nodded, a hollow laugh escaping her. “So I should just get over myself, huh?”

“Jeez, she gets it!” Kenzi held her arms open to the ceiling. “Yes, please, for the love of all things Fae, stop. You won years ago.” Lauren smirked at Kenzi as the noise upstairs was kicked up a decibel or two. Both women looked up at the floor above. “She seems… back to form.” Kenzi cleared her throat and looked at Lauren.

She hummed and shook her head. “Not quite.”

Kenzi made a face. “Doc, seriously.”

“What?” she asked innocently, still looking at the ceiling. “You brought it up.”

“Semantics.” Kenzi waved a hand. The headboard began bouncing against the bedroom wall. The rhythmic thudding mesmerized them both momentarily. Kenzi shook her head and looked at Lauren, who still stared at the ceiling. 

“It won’t be long now,” she said. Grunts turned to moans and soon Bo reached the octave that signaled her release.

“There it is,” they said in unison.

It was literally a minute later when the delivery guy ran through the living room with his belt flapping in the wind and an armload of his clothing. Kenzi and Lauren followed him with their eyes as he ran through the living room and out the door with a slam. A moment later Bo descended the stairs in her kimono. Lauren had to blink twice to shake the slow motion quality the scene possessed.

Her hips swayed as she stepped onto the main floor and sashayed towards the table. “Sushi,” she said, lifting a roll off the platter and dipping it. She popped it into her mouth. “How’d you know I was craving sushi?”

Lauren smiled and looked away. “Wild guess.”

Bo wrapped an arm around Lauren’s shoulders and pressed her cheek against Lauren‘s. “It was a good guess.” Her voice was low and flirtatious which was to be expected. “But I was thinking, wouldn’t Thai be even better?” Her finger traced the curve of Lauren’s bottom lip.

She swallowed. “Sure.” 

Bo smiled, lifting the platter of sushi and carrying it to the coffee table. Kenzi and Lauren’s eyes met in the wake of the ravenous succubus. She sat on the couch and reached for the remote. “So what d’ya wanna watch?”

____


	7. Chapter 7

One morning I woke up and was plunged into psychological shock. I had forgotten I was free. --Jack Henry Abbott  
__

No man is good enough to be another's master. --William Morris  
__

The Light Fae guard ushered her through the Dal. The front door still read: _CLOSED DUE TO ILLNESS_ and _QUARANTINE_ and the bar was empty, though Lauren was pleased to see most of the cots set up from days ago were folded up and leaning against the walls. Slowly, it was coming back together. The bodyguard opened the door to the stairs that led into Trick’s lair and gestured her through.

“Hello?” Lauren looked around the living area and spotted empty cups, open books, and piles of tissues.

“Here, Lauren,” Trick’s voice sounded from reading area next to the living room. He sounded healthy, but when Lauren spotted him, he was wrapped in a blanket and huddled in a large chair, another open book on his lap.

“Trick, are you okay?” Lauren set her bag down and started rummaging through it. “Didn’t the cure work? You should have called me.”

“Lauren,” Trick interrupted her. She stopped and looked at him. “I’m fine,” he said. “I guess I don’t rebound as quickly as I did in my hundreds.” He closed the book on his lap and gestured to the chair next to him. “Please sit.” Lauren dropped her stethoscope into the bag and took a seat. “How’s Bo?”

“She’s good,” Lauren replied. “Cure took well, once she was able to feed, she was back to normal.”

“Good.” Trick smiled and then took an uneasy breath. “Lauren, I asked you over here to… hopefully get us back on the right foot.”

Lauren looked at him, temped to raise an eyebrow. “To be honest, Trick, I don’t think I’ve ever been on the right foot with the Fae.”

Trick nodded. “But we’ve been friends.”

“I used to like you before you started trying to kill me,” Lauren stated. “So yes, I guess we were.”

She watched Trick wriggle through swallowing his pride. She knew this was an ass-kissing meeting. The Fae couldn’t live without her now and Trick had to backpedal like no Ash before to keep her from officially jumping ship to the Dark. Lauren was a hot commodity and she knew it.

“I’m sorry, Lauren,” Trick said. “For doubting you and your loyalty. For doubting your love for my granddaughter and for the Fae at large. We owe you a unimaginable debt. Again.”

The confession took her by surprise. “I was only doing what was right.”

“And that’s why I racked my brain for an appropriate thank you.” Trick leaned over the side of his chair and looked through a leather bag full of scrolls.

“Trick, no, you don’t have to do that,” Lauren tried to stop him. “I didn’t do it for anything in return.”

Trick smiled at her. “That’s why she loves you,” he said. Lauren sat on the edge of the chair, taken aback by his comment and watched him produce a scroll from the bag finally. He looked at it carefully, almost forlornly, before extending it out to her. “I believe this belongs to you.”

Lauren took the scroll and held Trick’s eyes, frowning while she untied the string of leather around it. When she unrolled the thick paper, her heart dropped. There in the bottom right corner was her signature. In the bottom left, Lachlan’s. It was the contract that recommitted her to the Light Fae for the rest of her human life, all the words she stared at before signing, she even remembered the weight of the fountain pen in her hand and the snide grin on Lachlan’s face. Now she understood that smile, two years later. The lump in her throat was incredible.

“Trick,” she started, but couldn‘t finish.

“It‘s okay,” he said quietly. “The Light hate to lose you, but…” He paused. “I hope this doesn’t mean we won’t ever see you again.”

Lauren smiled, the tears welling in her eyes. She shook her head. “It doesn’t.” A laugh escaped her and she shrugged. “I’m dating your granddaughter.”

Trick nodded with a smile. “I’m glad to hear it,” he said. “We’re reopening tomorrow, you should come down and celebrate with us.”

Lauren sniffed and got to her feet. “I, uh…” She paused. “I don’t know, but…” She nodded finally. “I’ll think about it.”  
____

She sat in the Camaro in front of the clubhouse turning the scroll over and over in her hands. She wasn’t ready to share it, not even with Bo. She shoved the scroll into her medical bag and marched into the clubhouse. Bo and Kenzi were in the middle of a mani-pedi afternoon when she breezed in.

“Everything okay?” Bo called over the back of the couch.

“Yeah, it’s good.” She smiled.

“Get in here,” Bo gestured Lauren to join their circle of nail polish.

Lauren cocked her head. “I have a headache, actually. I’m just going to go upstairs and lie down.”

“Oh, okay,” Bo said trying to hide her disappointment as Lauren walked toward the stairs. “We’ll get you later.”

“Sure,” she smiled again and disappeared upstairs.

She sat on the bed, staring into her medical bag, as if she was afraid to touch it again. That, somehow, it was not real. Still, she took a deep breath and reached into the bag, extracting the scroll. She unrolled it and ran her fingers over the words, a smile spreading across her face. She pressed the scroll against her chest and rocked back on the bed. Her face actually hurt from the smile that had overtaken it. She felt an elation like she had never felt before and then the terror crept in. She was free.

Lauren swallowed, sucking in a breath, she exhaled unsteadily. The pressure was building. She pulled the scroll away from her chest and scrutinized it again. It started with her hands, the scroll beginning to shake, and traveled up her arms to her body until she was trembling all over. She gasped for air as her eyes filled with tears. Every terrible thing the Light had done to her came to the forefront. She tore at the scroll, it’s thick paper making her struggle. Her frustration escalated as she tore the scroll into bits and dropped it on the floor next to the bed. Her chest heaved, her mind spun and as Lauren began to sob, holding her sides as her body shook with the grief of five years lost.

She heard someone on the stairs and quickly wiped the tears from her cheeks. She tried to catch her breath. The steps were coming closer and she reached for the bits of shredded scroll but it was too late. Bo stood in the doorway. “Hey--” She moved to kneel beside Lauren. “Are you okay?” Bo’s hand caressed her knee.

“Yeah,” Lauren nodded. “I’m fine.”

“What’s with the confetti?” Bo picked up a handful of what was left of the scroll. Her brow furrowed as she read the pieces and tried to decipher their message. “Lauren, what is this?”

“I’m free, Bo.” Her eyes welled with tears.

Bo’s mouth hung open, processing. “You’re free?” She repeated.

“I’m free,” she laughed, reaching for Bo.

Bo wrapped her arms around Lauren and squeezed her tightly against her. She pulled away. “How?”

She swallowed and shook her head, still smiling. “Trick.”

“No shit,” Bo laughed in disbelief.

Lauren’s body shook with laughter, hysterics threatening to take hold. Bo grabbed her again, caught up in the Lauren’s moment and laughed with her. When they had made themselves breathless, Bo grew serious, watching Lauren as she caught her breath. The spark in her eyes gave Lauren pause and soon Bo’s mouth was crushing her own. “Bo,” she said, joyful, pulling Bo’s top over her head as she pushed her back onto the bed. Quickly, she stripped her own shirt before peeling away Bo’s pants. She kicked off her shoes and shed her jeans, crawling onto the bed; over Bo, she pressed her body against Bo’s. Lauren’s hunger grew and she kissed her, their lips meeting tenderly, eagerly. Bo’s mouth moved to her throat. Lauren threw her head back, enjoying the explorations of Bo’s tongue against her neck. “Bo,” she said again.

“Hmm?” She hummed against Lauren’s neck.

“I can’t believe this…” Lauren sighed, her hand in Bo‘s hair, cupping the back of her head.

“Believe it.” Bo kissed her navel and tore at her panties.

Lauren laughed again, this time her voice low and sultry. Bo’s mouth nipped at her: her breast, her ribs, down her side, across her thigh, culminating between her legs. The gasp that escaped her silenced any further laughter.

Her eyes drifted shut, head spinning. When Lauren could open her eyes again she watched as Bo’s head moved between her legs, her hands creeping up her sides. “Jesus,” she gasped as Bo’s tongue delved deeper. Her head fell back, her body on fire, but afraid to move, afraid of losing the moment. It was hard to keep her eyes open, but when she could, she was treated to a vision of love and sex. The pressure of Bo’s fingers on her thighs as she held her close, the errant hair Lauren tucked behind her ear, the feeling of Bo’s own voice, her moan vibrating through her while she moved.

Biting her lip and leaning into Bo’s mouth, Lauren moaned again. A sweep of her tongue and her hips came alive. Bo was relentless, swirling in her depths. She hiked her leg over Bo’s shoulder and smoothed it down her back. Her other foot sliding down to her waist. Rocking against the bed, Bo’s hips undulated of their own accord and her mouth was unrelenting, stroking Lauren to her very core.

A sweep of her tongue brought her hips off the bed, Bo‘s mouth pressing harder against her. The sweet suction of her lips coaxed a surprised moan from her. Her hands found Bo’s hair as her hips found their rhythm and Lauren quickly found release, tears pricking her eyes.

She expected to feel different. Emancipated. Instead she felt alive with sex and love and life. If everything was different, it still felt the same. She was with Bo, absurdly in love and her body still shook with the effort of orgasm. Bo hovered above her, breathing heavily, her eyes lit with desire. It was Bo. It was always Bo. She was the one who gave Lauren her dignity back, after she had been beaten down and made to feel less than Fae. With Bo, freedom had been there all along.  
__

Hours passed. With each ending came a new beginning. The sheets were twisted and torn from the corners of the bed and blankets were kicked away as they rolled around. When they finally tired long into the night, she flopped onto her back and sighed.

Bo chewed her lip like she did when she had something on her mind. She spoke unexpectedly. “Do you remember when you told me you were a liar?”

Lauren’s hand stilled on Bo’s thigh. “I do.”

“Are you ever gonna tell me what you meant by that?”

She nodded. “I was twenty with an overstated sense of grandeur. My brother had an overdeveloped sense of outrage.” Lauren chuckled and then grew serious. “Together, he thought we would change the world. Long story short, he asked me to make the explosives that would ultimately kill eleven people.”

“What did you do?”

“I kissed my parents goodbye and went into hiding.”

“And you’re still running…” Bo said sadly.

She shook her head. “I don’t want to run anymore.”

Bo brushed a strand of blonde hair from her forehead as she spoke. “Stay with me, then.”

“I killed eleven people, Bo.”

“And how many people have I killed?”

Lauren sighed. “It’s not the same, Bo. You have to.”

“No,” Bo told her, propping herself up on her elbow. “I can’t remember how many people I fed off without reason before I knew I was Fae, Lauren. I really was a monster.”

“Bo,” Lauren was quick to shake her head, a reaction well practiced when this topic arose. She pushed herself up on her elbow as well. “You’re--”

“Not a monster?” Bo smiled and squeezed her arm affectionately. “Neither are you.”

Lauren looked down at Bo’s hand on her arm. “Tell that to the families of the people I killed.”

“And how many people have you saved since?” Bo prodded. “How many people did you save this week?”

“It’s not a spectrum.”

“It doesn’t change a thing,” Bo said, shaking her head. “Lauren, you have to forgive yourself.” Lauren’s expression grew sad and Bo could almost see her reliving the phone call from her brother--the last time she talked to him--before he disappeared. “You can’t keep carrying this shit around with you. It’s weighing you down.”

Lauren closed her eyes. “I know.”

“So let it go,” Bo urged. “They’ll understand.”

She nodded and took a deep breath. Tonight she would invite her guilt out one last time, holding it against her breast as she said goodbye to the memories that haunted her. Except most of Lauren’s memories were fiction now, having been twisted so far from their truths by her imagination that they were false. That didn’t stop Lauren from excising them from the fabric of her time. Saying goodbye to the hangers on, she would start to take back her life. Then and there, Lauren promised herself she would let go, little by little until she was renewed and had finally forgiven herself.  
__

If it wasn’t the thumping steps up the stairs that roused them both from sleep, it was the falsetto “Good morning!” from Kenzi as she strode into the bedroom. Her heels made a solid clack on the tile floor of the bathroom and then a muffled thud on the new hardwood.

“God Kenzi,” Bo groaned, covering her eyes with her arm.

“What time is it?” Lauren asked as she sat up, pulling the top sheet around her body.

“Too early for clothes, apparently.” Kenzi rolled her eyes. “But that’s not why I’m here.”

“That’s a relief,” Bo quipped, holding a blanket against her breasts as she sat up next to Lauren. “So what are you doing?”

Kenzi presented the tray of food she’d been holding. “I know it’s been a few days, but you’ve been so busy.” She put the tray at the foot of the bed. “Breakfast in bed for the hero of the Fae. Again.”

Bo smiled. “Aw, you shouldn’t have.”

Kenzi blinked. “No, not you. Lauren.” She gestured at the doctor and Lauren puffed up, a grin on her face. “You just got sick and scared your best friend half to death.”

“Aw come on, I would have helped.”

“Thanks, Kenzi,” Lauren said.

Kenzi smiled and shrugged. “Thanks for keeping her alive for me and everything.”

“I couldn‘t have done it without you.”

Bo looked between the two women in the few moments of silence. “So what does the succubus have to do for waffles?”

Lauren smirked at her. “I don’t know, I could be convinced to share.”

“Could you?” Bo grinned and Kenzi rolled her eyes.

“If the right offer was presented, yeah.” Lauren saw the flash of blue in Bo’s eyes, but it was so quick, she almost missed it. She reached over and dipped a finger into the whipped cream on top of the waffles, holding it out. Bo smiled wickedly as she leaned across, taking Lauren’s finger into her mouth.

“Mmm,” Bo moaned.

“Guys,” Kenzi interrupted.

Bo smiled, bringing a free hand to Lauren’s jaw, her fingers threading into her hair. She couldn’t stop looking at her mouth. “Let’s see what you think of this.” Bo leaned in and Lauren found herself drawn to do the same, her hand clutching the sheet at her chest.

“Hello?” Kenzi waved her hands as Bo pulled Lauren into a kiss. Her hands dropped to her side in defeat. “You guys are impossible.” It was a touching kiss, one that was gentle and easy. Kenzi almost found herself smiling at the sight, pleased that at least someone had a happy ending, when a low moan signaled a shift in intensity. Bo lifted her other hand to Lauren’s neck and the blanket concealing her fell to her lap.

“Oh for the _love_ of…” Kenzi covered her eyes and turned quickly, pausing briefly after realizing moving breakfast might be a good idea. With her eyes closed against the increasing heat in the room, Kenzi felt around for the tray she left on the bed. “Okay, I, uh…” She spun around until she spotted an empty surface. “I’m just gonna leave this here, for… after.” Kenzi made sure it was safe and caught herself turning back to the bed before covering her eyes again at the shifting sheets. “You guys…” She waved awkwardly over her shoulder. “Have… fun,” she said, escaping down the stairs.  
____

 


	8. Chapter 8

The family is the test of freedom; because the family is the only thing that the free man makes for himself and by himself. --Gilbert K. Chesterton  
__

The music could be heard well into the alley way that led to the Dal. Bo opened the door for Lauren, giving her a stunning smile that made her heart race. Tonight was the reopening of the Dal since the plague had just about outed the Fae to the rest of the world. The new cure was a success and Lauren was notorious, regardless of how any Fae felt about her. She had done the impossible.

The sights and sounds were familiar, the scents almost comforting. Bo moved through the crowd ahead of Lauren, and soon the voices dimmed, the music still filling the room. Lauren could see the many Fae and a few humans that looked their way with surprise, stepping to the side to let them by, talking quietly to each other. Lauren was no stranger to Fae or humans talking about her, sometimes at least giving her the respect of waiting until she was out of the room. And even though the danger was still there, this time it felt different.

Lauren stopped short, bumping against Bo a few paces from the bar. She looked up to find her focused behind the bar, specifically her grandfather. Trick was pouring pint after pint, the glasses disappearing as soon as he set them down, but he stopped for a moment, looking through the crowd at Bo. He smiled apologetically, and poured a few more, looking up at her in between.

“Pardon me, gentlemen,” he called over the bar. Bo and Lauren followed his eyes to the table full of reveling shifters. “The ladies need your table.”

The blond one laughed. “We were here first.” His fist pounded on the table and the other laughed.

“Come on, boys,” Bo said, her hips swaying into their view. They stopped and stared, aghast at their misstep and when Lauren stepped in behind Bo, their eyes widened.

“Holy shit,” the blond one said, scrambling to his feet.

Lauren smirked. “Does this mean we can have your table?” The shifters moved quickly, lifting their drinks. The youngest one swept the table with his sleeve and before disappearing into the crowd. “I could get used to this,” Lauren said, pulling out a chair.

Bo folded her hands on the table. “I’m not sure I should have come.”

Lauren leaned over the table, covering Bo’s hands with her own. “I think it’s important.” Bo’s hands were warm and they twitched under her fingers. She was positively vibrating. Lauren squeezed her fingers.

Bo’s jaw set, staring out into the crowd, focusing on the target in her head. “I’m gonna go talk to him.” She started to push herself to her feet, but Lauren’s firm grip halted her halfway.

“Don’t.” She nodded to an approaching figure.

Trick appeared at the table with two pints of beer. He looked at each of the women, feeling the practiced caution from Lauren and venom from Bo, before putting the drinks on the table. He smiled uncomfortably. “Thanks for coming.” Lauren nodded at him and looked at Bo, who stared at Trick with an uncomfortable intensity until she looked at her hands and back to Lauren. Trick saw the brief smile that Lauren reassured Bo with and backed up a step. He understood perfectly. “I should get back to the bar, if you‘ll excuse me, ladies. Please, enjoy yourselves, drinks are on me tonight.” And then he was gone.

Bo scoffed. “He’s buying us off with drinks?”

“He’s apologizing, Bo,” Lauren reasoned.

“Yeah well,” Bo pulled the pint glass closer. “There better be a lot more nights like this, then.”

The beer tasted like heaven after the events that had unfolded over the last couple of weeks. Lauren closed her eyes and savored it, appreciating the refreshment. She looked over at Bo who began to relax, finally leaning against the back of her chair. She looked as healthy as ever, her eyes scanning the crowd in a casual survey. Ever-vigilant, her Bo. When Bo glanced back at Lauren, she smiled brilliantly.

“You look amazing,” Lauren told her. If it was possible for Bo to smile brighter, Lauren thought she might have.

Bo slid back into her chair, giving Lauren her full attention. “You, uh,” Bo started slowly, choosing her words carefully while she traced Lauren’s fingers with her own. “You don’t need to sweet talk me, Doctor.” She picked Lauren’s hand up and pressed her lips against her fingers. Her eyes darted to the bar and back to Lauren again. “So how long are we freezing him out?”

Lauren raised her eyebrows and looked toward the bar, Trick’s image appearing and disappearing in between patrons. She turned back to Bo and smirked. “I’ll let you know.”

Bo smiled against Lauren’s hand and lowered it to the table again. “You never told me how you saved the world without me.”

“Ah, well,” Lauren started, taking a long drink. “The short version is that the plague mutated which is why the cure I developed in the Congo didn’t work. I had to figure out how to synthesize a new cure that would be resistant to the more acute plague virus, but…” Lauren drank again, holding her finger in the air. Bo watched her, oblivious to the party happening around them. “The plague was attacking the Fae cells that were used to distribute the cure faster than the cure could distribute itself. I needed the original infected to create a cure.”

Bo shrugged. “Easy, right?”

“Except Dyson and Tamsin couldn’t get to him fast enough and… he died. And I was back to square one.”

“But you figured it out.”

“The only thing I could think would work was a creature so rare, no one had ever found one.”

Bo’s eyebrows raised in anticipation. “A unicorn?”

Lauren smirked. “A hybrid.”

Bo frowned and straightened. “Like me.”

“Yes, sort of.” Lauren straightened in her chair, a new energy about her. “Except instead of Fae and Fae DNA like you, if I could find a Fae and Human hybrid, the cure could be carried by a human coded vessel and bypass the plague without much trouble. But hybrids are extremely rare and almost completely undocumented.”

Bo waited for Lauren to continue. “But you found one.”

Lauren nodded at Bo, blinking a few times as she swallowed. “Yeah, I found one.”

“That must have been exciting.” Bo smiled. “Catching a rare Fae like that.”

“It sort of fell into my lap.”

Bo frowned. “Do tell.”

She covered Bo’s hand with her own. “It’s me.”

Bo blinked, shaking her head. “What?“ she asked. “How? I mean, I thought your Fae went away?”

“I thought so, too, but…“ Lauren shrugged. “I can’t explain it.”

One of very few waitresses walked by the table and Bo reached out, grabbing her wrist. “We’re gonna need another round,” she said, still shaking her head. “So what does this mean, you’re… half Fae?”

Lauren struggled to answer. “It’s hard to say, but I don’t think so. I have no powers and no elevated senses. As far as I can guess, I’m mostly human.”

Bo laughed at that. “Mostly?”

“I don’t know what to say Bo.” Lauren looked to the ceiling for help. “I don’t really know what to think, or feel, or… do.” She sighed. “I just knew I wanted to tell you.”

The waitress breezed by and dropped their drinks on the table, picking up the empty glasses with practiced ease. Lauren claimed a pint and stared into it.

“I spent weeks wishing I hadn’t done what I did, you know? Making myself Fae.” She looked at Bo. “I thought I’d finally gone too far, ruined whatever humanity I had anymore.”

“Lauren…”

“But then I thought if I hadn’t…” She shook her head.

“Well thank the Fae you did,” Bo stretched her arm across Lauren’s shoulders, squeezing them gently.

Bo leaned across the table so she didn’t have to shout over the din of the establishment. “Hey, have I told you how incredible you look tonight?” Lauren smiled as she always did when Bo paid her a flattering remark, never knowing how to fully accept a compliment. Bo covered Lauren’s hand with her own. “I should’ve said this sooner, but thanks for saving my ass. You know, I’m not used to sharing the spotlight with other people but with you I think I could learn.” Bo sighed and looked at Lauren intensely. “Lauren, I think you’re amazing.”

Lauren smiled widely, but there was hardly a moment of silence between them before a whirlwind approached and landed in a chair at their table.

“Holy _shit_ , you guys!” Kenzi moved to take a drink before realizing the drink she held was empty. “Everyone is talking about you, it’s like you’re faelebrities.”

“Faelebrities?”

Kenzi waved a hand. “Whatever.” She leaned forward. “Look, people are asking questions, they’re digging for answers, everyone wants to know about you guys.”

Bo looked at Lauren. “Really?”

“Bo,” Kenzi said, reaching across the table and grabbing her arm. “They’re _scared_ of you.”

“What?”

“They’re afraid you’ll kick their asses and they’re afraid Lauren will turn them into bunny rabbits with her crazy science, and they love me,” she said, putting a hand on her heart. “Because I’m the hot ass chick that lives with you.”

“How many of those have you had?” Bo pointed at the glass that had found its way to their table, now refilled.

“We can _ride_ this, girls, think about it.” Kenzi nodded at them. “House on the hill, Lambo in the driveway…” She slapped her palm on the table. “Damn, it feels _good_ to be a gangster.”

“Trick said there was someone causing a ruckus over here.” The trio of women looked up to see Dyson and Tamsin standing next to the table, each with a beer in hand.

“There’s no ruckus here. Are you starting a ruckus?” Kenzi asked. “Because I can send these two sexy, yet deadly ladies to take care of you, I‘m sure you‘ve heard about them.”

“Don’t give him any ideas, Kenz.” Bo smirked up at him.

“Sorry about Kozma,” Tamsin said, pulling up a chair next to Lauren. “You shoulda seen him, though, he was like that sandwich you forgot in your lunchbox when you were a kid and didn’t find it until weeks later--”

Kenzi made a noise. “Ugh, horf,” she interrupted. “Maybe you can spare us the juicy details.”

Tamsin shrugged. “So how’d you do it without him?” she asked.

Lauren took a moment to answer and was delighted when Bo answered for her. “Science magic,” she said with a smile. Lauren smirked and got to her feet.

“Science magic?” Tamsin repeated, her brow furrowed.

Lauren leaned down, a hand on Bo‘s shoulder. “I have to look after something,” she said, noticing Dyson’s keen ears always listening.

“Should I come with you?” Bo asked, already moving to get up.

“No, no, it’s okay,” Lauren kept her seated. “I just need to see Trick.” She kissed Bo’s cheek. “I won’t be long.”

Lauren moved easily from their table to the bar, the patrons moving aside as they noticed her approaching. It was a heady feeling, to have this much control over people without even saying a word. When she approached the bar, Trick’s eyebrows raised.

“There are some quite interesting rumors going around about you,” he said, moving a few glasses down the bar.

Lauren smirked. “So I hear.” She leaned over the bar. “And if this is the reaction I get, I’m not sure I want to correct them.”

Trick chuckled. “What can I get you?” he asked.

“A moment of your time?”

____

Trick looked at the vial in his hand and the small scroll attached to it. His lair was a quiet retreat when there was a busy night in the bar above, but the thumping bass always found its way through the walls. Lauren sat on the couch next to him, watching him turn the bottle over in his hands.

“I still can’t believe you did it,” he said.

Lauren smiled. “I find it hard to believe myself.”

He turned to her. “You didn’t have to give this to me,” he told her. “That’s not why I gave you the contract.”

“I know,” Lauren replied. “I wanted to. It’s important that you have it in case this happens again. In case I’m not around.” Trick nodded. “You should know the same is being given to the Morrigan,” she added. “I don’t think it’s fair to keep it from her.”

“I feel the same,” Trick agreed.

Lauren got to her feet. “I’m working on a vaccine with this cure in mind. Maybe we can prevent a next time.”

Trick smiled and nodded again. “The Fae are lucky to have you on their side, Lauren.”

“You know what, Trick?” Lauren said. “It’s taken me six years, but I finally believe that.”  
____

When Lauren emerged from Trick’s lair, the King in tow, she met Bo leaning against the post directly across from her. Her eyes softened as Lauren came into view and took a step forward, taking her hands in hers.

“I’m kind of tired,” Bo said, looking at their fingers. “You ready to go?”

“Sure,” Lauren nodded and caught Bo’s glance at Trick. “I’ll go get Kenzi.”

As Lauren walked away, Trick took the few steps to close the distance between them. He cleared his throat. “Thanks for coming, Bo.”

Bo smiled. “Don’t be confused, my smile is for Lauren’s benefit.” She nodded at the blonde across the room. “I’m not here to be social or for the free booze. I only want you to know that if you mess with Lauren again,” she patted his cheek, “the fact that we’re family won’t matter.” Trick’s chest puffed out and he took a deep breath just as Lauren and Kenzi arrived next to Bo. She pushed open the door for them. “Thanks for the drinks.”

____

They had taken their leave of the Dal and its creatures of habit, heading home to the clubhouse. Bo kicked open the door to the Camaro and inhaled the crisp night air. Bo had been at death’s door more times than she had fingers and toes but she had never been so sure that she’d get out of it as she was with Lauren at the wheel. She was scared as hell, sure, but Bo believed in Lauren, in her skill and in her dogged determination.

She watched her toss her hair as she stood back and let Kenzi out of the back seat and found herself immobile. Lauren was the type of woman that made Bo stop in her tracks, that held her attention as if looking away meant she would never see her again. She was captivating, inside and out, and as she walked around the car to join Bo, the goofy smile on Bo’s face was difficult to contain. They were together. Free. What happened tomorrow was completely up to them.

Lauren grabbed Bo’s hand and pulled her along, following Kenzi inside. She was sure Kenzi had been talking the entire walk to the front door, but neither one of them heard anything until:

“Besides, the Doc is out of her depths.” Kenzi stomped through the mud room and into the clubhouse, Bo and Lauren following close behind her. Kenzi dropped the extra large pizza onto the table as Bo peeled away the paper bags from the liquor.

“ _Excuse_ me?” Lauren said, draping her jacket over the back of the couch before getting onto a stool at the island in the kitchen. “I am totally within my depths.”

“See, you’re already half in the bag,” Kenzi argued. Bo smirked and handed Kenzi the whiskey.

“That doesn’t mean I can’t keep up with you and Bo.”

“That’s _exactly_ what it means!” Kenzi waved the bottle in the air. “Remember last time?”

Lauren held up a finger. “Isolated incident.”

Kenzi unscrewed the bottle and slugged it back. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. “Suit yourself,” she relented, pouring a round of shots. Kenzi sighed. “I know we haven’t been to the Dal in a month but the whole time we were there I was wishing I was here.”

“Don’t tell me you’re settling down,” Lauren teased, tossing back the shot.

“I did drive the U-Haul when you moved in.” Kenzi smirked and filled their glasses again. Tossing it back, she spoke again. “So who’s going to tell me what the hell happened the other night?”

Bo looked at Lauren and then back at Kenzi. “Trick tried to write the memory of Lauren out of Fae history.”

Kenzi‘s jaw dropped. “What the Fae?”

“And by doing so erased any memory of my contributions to the original plague cure.” Lauren poured the shot down her throat and winced as it went down. She released the breath she’d been holding and continued. “So even though the cure was there to be made, no one remembered that it had ever been discovered in the first place.”

Kenzi’s eyes widened, trying to grasp it all. “The Fae never do things the easy way.” Another round of shots was poured haphazardly. “So how did your memory come back, then?”

Lauren looked at Bo, “We, uh, you know…”

“Bo banged it out of you?” Kenzi’s eyebrows raised, as if waiting to hear if she won a prize.

“I think when Trick wrote about me he referred to me as a human,” Lauren said, ignoring Kenzi‘s comment. It was something she did a lot with Kenzi. “And it worked as a sort of loophole back to our reality, it just took one really visceral experience to bring it back.”

Kenzi looked at Lauren blankly. “So Bo _did_ bang it back into you.”

Lauren considered this and then nodded. “In a manner of speaking.”

Kenzi clapped. “Well, I have to drink to _that_.” The women dropped their shot glasses in the middle of the table and Kenzi sloppily filled them. Kenzi raised her glass. “To Lauren and her time-bending orgasm. And to Bo, she couldn’t have done it without you.”

Bo drifted out of the conversation as she lowered the shot glass from her lips. Fading in and then out again as Lauren began to stutter, Kenzi hitting her buttons over a huge slice of pizza and a casual game of poker. There was a certain thrill that came with dating Dr. Lauren Lewis, at least for Bo. Her encyclopedic vocabulary alone could make Bo weak in the knees with three or more syllables and that was a lot of power to hold over a succubus. She loved dating Lauren, even the things that drove Kenzi crazy only made Bo smile. And being attached the great Human Doctor was exciting enough for Bo, but she would be lying if she said dating the Hybrid Human Doctor didn’t sweeten the pot.

Bo’s life was much different than before Lauren had planted her feet in their lives. The clubhouse, for one, was a serviceable home for them. With walls and a security system to boot. Lauren was finally free and Kenzi had seen the other side and lived to tell the tale. All in all, life was settling into a rhythm that Bo could get behind.

Bo felt a hand clap onto her thigh and a voice, thick with liquor, in her ear. “Do you have fifty dollars? I think I’m going to lose this hand.”

“Okay, Kenzi,” Bo said, taking the cards from Lauren‘s hands. “Game’s over.”

Kenzi held her hands up to the ceiling. “What? I warned her.”

“Stop conning your family.” Bo helped Lauren to her feet, Kenzi waving the two of them off as she tucked into another slice of pizza.

Bo led Lauren up the stairs carefully and helped her into bed. With each step, Lauren said something Bo couldn’t understand, but she recognized some as being equations. It was something she did when she wanted to stay alert and right now Lauren was failing. She sat down next to Lauren on the bed and reached for the lamp. A hand stilled hers.

“Bo,” she said in a drunken haste before rambling off another equation. She took a deep breath and looked at the ceiling. Lauren’s eyes twinkled, her hair fanned out around her head like a halo.

 _So this is what freedom looks like on her_ , Bo thought. _Bravo._

Bo cleared her throat. “Get some sleep.” She clicked off the lamp. “Fresh start tomorrow.”

____


	9. Epilogue

Everything is clearer when you're in love. --John Lennon  
__

If you pinned her down, Lauren Lewis would tell you that the Fae and humans could absolutely carry on relationships with one another. She could tell you from experience and she could tell you as an observer. It’s a bumpy and, sometimes, ugly ride, but you could make it work. 

Lauren had made a living out of making things work and so it came as no surprise when she finally stopped fighting the laws of nature. She stared at her hand and sighed. She could still remember the sound the beaker made when it broke in her hand. And feel its shards sink into the soft muscles of her palm. Or the trail of blood she left through the clubhouse as she got to the first aid kit in the bathroom. When Bo came in during the chaos, she rushed to find gauze amidst Lauren’s medical supplies. Lauren closed her eyes and put pressure on the wound with her other hand, trying to slow the bleed. When Bo returned, the glow from Lauren’s palm was blinding. “Lauren,” she whispered.

Lauren blinked, looking down at her healing hand. She shook her head. “It can’t be,” she said as the light faded.

Being a human with a Fae could absolutely work. But Lauren had abandoned ship. She was the hybrid, the savior of the Fae and now, her Fae had returned to her. _How the hell was she going to make that work?_

 _Very carefully._ Isn’t that how the joke went?

Bo sat beside her on the edge of the tub. “Well that’s new… -ish.” She inspected Lauren’s formerly injured hand. “All better.” Bo tossed the gauze into the sink and massaged her hand.

Lauren shook her head. “Bo, I didn’t know. I swear.”

“Relax,” Bo hushed her. “You don‘t need to apologize.” Her arm wrapped around Lauren’s shoulders and hugged her tightly. “It doesn’t change anything.”

“I don’t even know how this happened.” She paused, taking in what Bo had just said. “Really?”

“Lauren, you’re Fae,” she smiled. “Join the club.”

“But, I’m human,” she resisted.

“Then you’ve got some freaky shit happening to your hand--you might wanna get that looked at,” Bo quipped. Lauren cracked a smile at that, exhaling the tension she felt. Bo kissed her on the forehead. “It’s gonna be okay--better than okay.”

“Oh. My. God!” Kenzi shouted from downstairs. In a three-count Kenzi was at the top of the stairs, skidding to a stop in front of the bathtub where Bo and Lauren still sat. “Who died?”

“I cut my hand.” 

Kenzi looked at Lauren’s hands, confused. “They look fine to me.”

“It wasn’t that bad,” Bo interjected.

“Yeah, just a scratch,” Lauren agreed.

“Are you kidding me? It looks like Tony Soprano whacked somebody down there.”

“Sorry,” she said with a smile. “I’ll clean it up in a minute.”

Kenzi eyed them suspiciously and grabbed her head suddenly. “My spidey sense is tingling. You’re up to something,” she pointed at Lauren. “And you,” she pushed Bo’s shoulder playfully. “You’re in on it.”

“Can we have a minute, Kenz?” Bo asked, saccharine sweet. 

“Fine.“ She threw her hands up in the air. “But I’m on to you two,” she said as she spun around and clomped down the stairs.

Lauren lowered her head into her hands and groaned. “What am I going to tell her?”

“The truth,” Bo said simply.

She looked sideways at Bo and thought for a moment before sighing. “I hate it when you’re reasonable,” she said pensively.

“You’re afraid to accept it.”

“I’m not--” She started. “It’s not--” She sighed. “I don’t know how to be Fae, Bo.”

“Now you’re just being silly,” Bo said, standing up. “And my ass hurts.“ She turned towards the bedroom.

Lauren followed Bo. “I just need to do some research,” she said, standing inside the bedroom.

“Turning yourself into a pincushion in an attempt to deny your Fae is pointless.”

Lauren sat down beside Bo. “I want to be sure.”

“Humor me for a second.” Bo turned to face Lauren. Sliding her dagger out of its holster, Bo sliced her palm open.

“Bo,” Lauren winced.

“Glow me. Call it a field test.”

Lauren held her hand over Bo’s and once again it glowed. She closed her eyes, mind racing. “Shit.”

She felt Bo’s breath on her cheek just before her lips pressed against Lauren’s. The taste of Bo’s lip gloss, the softness of her bottom lip against her own and the smell of her hair, tendrils falling around them as they fell back onto the bed. Bo held her face in her hands and, as she pulled away, the stars in her eyes.

“You’re gonna be fine, babe,” Bo whispered, hovering above her.

“How do you know that? What if people find out that I’m the hybrid or that I still have Fae powers? It could be open season on us again.”

Bo rolled onto her side and pulled Lauren to face her. “And it might be, but you know what?” Bo asked rhetorically. “It doesn’t matter. Things were never a piece of cake when you were one hundred percent human, either.”

Lauren reached for her face, drawn in by the shadows. Cupping her cheek in the palm of her hand, she felt incalculably wealthy. This was what she had wanted for as long as she could remember: to be with Bo without the obstacle of her being human. She could heal her with her body or her touch without worry of depletion. No more delivery boy feeds. No more jealousy.

If you were to ask Lauren if she believed in happily ever after she’d probably laugh before answering “no.” She would say “no” because life is an unstable and dangerous endeavor. That as hard as you might try, things could come crashing down at any time. Happily ever after was a nice sentiment but, for Lauren, an impractical predictor of her existence. And today when Bo turned to her and said: “Do you believe in fairy tale love?” Lauren snorted. “Ah, the ever-skeptical doctor, it’s been awhile.”

“Relationships work because people work at them,” Lauren said reasonably.

“And love?” Bo challenged.

Lauren withdrew her hand. “Love is complicated.” 

Bo propped her head up on a hand. “You’re still protecting yourself.”

“What? Don’t be ridiculous,” Lauren defended.

Bo’s hand was in her hair, reaching across the expanse between them to fiddle with a stray hair. “So, you love me?”

“What kind of question is that?”

“Hit a nerve, hmm?” Bo pressed.

“I--” she stopped short, blinking. “Of course, I love you.” Lauren curled into her side.

“But not fairy tale love.” Bo smiled.

“I don’t even know what that is, Bo.” Lauren looked at the ceiling. “An empty-headed heroine constantly being rescued by the insipid hero?”

“No--” Bo frowned. “We‘re equals. And we‘re both pretty damn good at saving the other.”

“That’s unlike any fairy tale I’ve ever read,” Lauren said.

Bo smiled. “That’s the point. We’re making our own fairy tale.”

Covering her face, Lauren expelled a quiet laugh. “I never figured you for the romantic type, Bo.”

“Are you kidding? Have you seen our romance novel collection?” Bo smiled in that sweet way she did when they were alone and Lauren‘s chest swelled. “What?”

“I fairy-tale-love-you,” Lauren said quietly.

Bo pushed Lauren onto her back an climbed on top of her, wagging a finger. “I knew it.”

With a heady rush, Lauren kissed her. If you were to ask Lauren Lewis if she believed in love between Fae and Human, she would confess her own. After everything, Lauren was happy, desperately so, and there was little left to prove. The good doctor could turn human to Fae and Fae to human, she could synthesize her hybrid blood and save an entire race of people. There was little doubt that Lauren was in control of her own life again.

Now if you were to ask Lauren Lewis if she believed in happily ever after, she’d pause, considering the question before carefully answering. Lauren had tired of waiting for the other shoe to drop. Of wondering who or what was going to tear her life apart next. Instead, she focused on Bo, who made her days brighter and her home warmer. Bo, who loved her abundantly and Lauren who never wanted to be more than an arm’s length away, a completely impractical yearning and yet a reality of the situation. So if you were to ask her, Lauren would say “yes” she believes in happily ever after because even on the dark days, Bo was there to make it better. It wasn’t about measuring the days or predicting the future for Lauren anymore, it was enjoying what she had for the time she had it and trusting that happily ever after would eventually come. If there was anything she learned from the Fae, it was how to be on her guard, but if there was anything Bo taught her, it was how to believe.

____

FIN  
____


End file.
